Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:53 pm on 10 May 2017.
Diolch, Llywydd, and I thank Llyr for raising this under topical questions. Part of the issue around this was discussed at our cross-party group on universities back on 1 February and that’s what I want to focus on for the moment, because the Cabinet Secretary is right that we do have a world-class offer here but something is going wrong, and I just want to touch on this briefly.
We know that, in Wales, our education exports to international students is worth around £530 million, which is 4 per cent of Welsh exports in their entirety. Our international students currently—currently—are supporting over 7,500 jobs at Welsh universities, and also around Wales, not just in the universities themselves. But we have had a drop of 26 per cent in non-EU students at Welsh universities since the 2013-14 intake, and this is compared to a 4 per cent decrease in the UK overall and the Russell Group and Scotland universities. So, we have a particular issue, and this is despite a world-class offer in Welsh universities and despite the fact that the cost of living and tuition fees here in Wales is much more affordable. But we do know, and the Cabinet Secretary is right, that international studies now are showing that the UK is now regarded as the least affordable place to study for undergraduates and graduates when compared to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA. We’ve got to do a lot more in marketing. So, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary: what can we do to market the Welsh university sector better, to have a more welcoming immigration and visa policy offer, and to boost the recruitment of international students? It’s not the sole way we turn this round, but it’s an important way that we meet those challenges, turn this round and boost our number of international students.