With the clock now ticking until the April 2019 departure date of the UK from the EU, we look at some of the key questions regarding Brexit and Education.
Will Brexit change our GCSE’s and A Levels
As it happens, there were numerous GCSE and A-Level reforms instigated in the UK prior to the giant Brexit hoo-hah anyway, with the main purpose of these reforms being to bring our standards up to those achieved abroad (both in Europe and further afield), as such it would seem unlikely that any further changes would be deemed necessary (although never-say-never with the UK government!) Details on these changes can be viewed here, here and here.
But what about the International GCSE?
Ah yes, the iGCSE, originally developed to allow the splendour of UK education to be delivered abroad with a more international flavour, but eventually considered so good that we wanted it back . In a rather large blow to both Pearson and CIE, the iGCSE in English and Maths no longer counts towards school league tables, with the remaining subjects due to follow suit in summer 2018. Don’t be mistaken though, this is not a Brexit issue, it is simply that the iGCSE’s do not meet the exacting criteria of the reformed GCSE’s.
Will Brexit affect the UK teacher shortage?
In a word, yes. As everyone is acutely aware, there is a teaching crisis prevalent in the UK, with schools struggling to recruit sufficient teachers. This hole is already largely plugged by teachers originating overseas; in 2016, while 28,148 teachers commenced Initial Teacher Training in the UK, Qualified Teacher Status was also awarded to 6,826 teachers who had qualified to teach overseas, representing a huge 25% contribution towards the supply of UK teachers. 4,795 of these came from within the EU, most notably Spain, Greece and Poland, while 2,031 originated from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. See full statistics here.
However, as of April 2016, new visa rules mean that Immigrants must earn a minimum of £35,000 to settle in the UK, a figure that teachers would normally only expect to earn after 10 years in the profession.
While the Home Office can waive this salary restriction for shortage occupations, it certainly represents an additional hoop for headteachers to jump through when attempting to staff their schools. The reduced ease of movement from the EU will only serve to fuel this fire, particularly in Modern Foreign Languages, which presently has 30% of teaching posts filled by European nationals.
How will Brexit affect University education?
At present it is a relatively straightforward, and somewhat encouraged process for UK students to study in the EU. Considering that lower tuition fees can be found abroad, this can be rather appealing for a UK student.
Similarly, EU students are currently entitled to the same level of financial support at UK Universities as is afforded to UK nationals. While this has been guaranteed for the year ahead, no such commitment is yet in place for 2018/19, meaning that EU students may be faced with similar fees as other international students
(ranging from £10k-£35k annually)
Will Tuition Fees rise after Brexit?
At present there has been no warning signs for a change of University fees for either UK or EU students. However, the terms of Brexit are yet to be finalised – we will be sure to update this post with any changes.