As education skyrockets, our opportunities shrink

The number of foreign students at esteemed institutions like the London School of Economics has skyrocketed. International students now make up nearly 70% of the cohort.

One of the more unsurprising effects of globalisation has been the abandonment of local education in favour of an international one. The so-called ‘brain drain’ is very real, but it doesn’t just mean that the best and brightest minds leave any given country, it also means that a country has to absorb them – to the detriment of local students. According to a recent article in The Times, Britain’s top universities have rejected British students in record numbers in favour of a more profitable international pool. The rate of rejections amounts to an eye-watering four out of ten UK applicants. Foreign university students pay roughly triple the amount of the yearly fee that UK students do, so it isn’t hard to decipher the incentive behind favouring international applicants.

Staggeringly, the number of foreign students at esteemed institutions like the London School of Economics has skyrocketed. International students now make up nearly 70% of the cohort. It is clear that strong A-level results now mean less than they used to, as British students now have to compete with a lucrative international market where money speaks as much as academic ability does. It is unfortunate that some of the world’s most esteemed (historically at least) universities have forgotten where they’re rooted, and who they’re primarily meant to serve.

This reliance on foreign money creates endless pitfalls in a modern Britain which is witnessing severe degree inflation. Since 1990, the number of degrees that British universities have handed undergraduates has increased fivefold – the proportion of students receiving higher grades has also increased dramatically. The end result is a more competitive market, with more people holding degrees than ever. As the average British household becomes dramatically poorer, the average Briton also becomes more educated.

The destruction of elite educational institutions, and the country’s most promising young minds in the process, is surely the symptom of a sick society. Many Britons are starting to be left behind in a never-ending education gap which starts at primary education and now continues through university. What is the use of this education if you cannot apply it and earn an income? What is the use of an education if the same institutions are slowly shoving you out to make way for richer international students?

Pretending that there are easy solutions to a multi-faceted problem is naïve, but surely the primary purpose of education is to expand the next generations’ opportunities. It is in the best interests of those who care to preserve the elite accreditation that a university degree once held, and give future generations more meaningful qualifications. From primary schools all the way to the universities, we need to give British students more opportunities, not less.