Keir Starmer is ¡°in a difficult spot¡± over student mobility as he eyes closer ties with the European Union, with experts warning concessions will go down ¡°like a bag of sick¡± with right-wing voters, while also harming universities.

The UK has agreed in principle to rejoin Erasmus+ and develop a ¡°youth experience scheme¡± as part of?its??this week, but key details were left to coming negotiations, with many questions unanswered.

Starmer, whose future as prime minister is under threat from the anti-immigration Reform Party, attempted to dampen speculation that any scheme would include EU students paying UK tuition fees again after this right was taken off them post-Brexit.

But experts believe the issue will not go away that easily, with the EU likely to push for the measure as a key part of any agreement, after the idea was previously suggested by the European Commission.?

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¡°The concept of?freedom of movement is hard-wired into the DNA of the EU,¡± said Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George¡¯s, University of London.

¡°The EU sees the unhampered mobility of people as a right, not a privilege, so restoring youth mobility on reciprocal terms would be a clear win for the EU¡¯s particular vision of cross-border partnership. That includes giving EU students the same fee status as domestic UK students.¡±

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However, Beech said it would be politically difficult for the UK to commit to a scheme that would result in yet another cut in a vital income stream for universities.

Estimates prepared by London Economics for?Times Higher Education?show that UK providers received about ?1.2 billion in tuition fee income from EU-domiciled students in 2023-24. The consultancy firm said that the full economic impact associated with these students was likely to be double this figure.

Although their numbers have?fallen massively since Brexit,?many universities are still reliant on the inflated fees that EU students now pay.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) data shows that last year EU students made up 33 per cent of the international postgraduate taught cohort at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and 28 per cent at Abertay University and St Mary¡¯s University, Twickenham.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), said many of the ¡°European elite¡± want their children to study in the biggest English-speaking country in Europe, and that UK institutions still top European league tables for quality.

¡°This government seems to have little love for universities so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me at all if they were used as a bargaining chip in the wider negotiations with the EU,¡± he said.

¡°Sadly, we were promised an end to the war on universities, but it seems to be ramping up again at the moment.¡±

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Any increase in mobility rights for EU students would contrast with Starmer¡¯s?recent immigration White Paper?that curtailed the right of international students ¨C irrespective of where they come from ¨C to stay in the UK after graduation to 18 months.

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¡°We¡¯ve all seen the backlash from Reform and the Tories who were sort of yapping at his heels a little bit, so he can¡¯t put measures forward to control immigration, including student immigration, and then create a carveout for European students,¡± said Beech.

¡°I think this is why the government¡¯s been intentionally quiet at the moment¡­it¡¯s just politically really difficult for them.¡±

She noted that the idea of a ¡°youth experience¡± scheme had replaced the phrase ¡°youth mobility¡± in recent government communications.

¡°The government knows that any allusion to mobility or freedom of movement is going to go down like a bag of sick with the Reform Party and some of those that tend to be on the right of the Conservative Party as well.¡±

If the government were?to concede on anything, Beech said it would be on the issue of home fee status ¨C but its ¡°red line¡± would be if there was any suggestion EU students should be able to access government-backed student loans.

Having previously thought there was no chance of movement on fee status, David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said the UK government¡¯s recent signalling now suggested otherwise but it remained to be seen how important the issue would prove to be for the EU.

UK negotiators are unlikely to see it as of great importance, said Hillman, as ¡°sadly, we do not have the same tradition of sending a high proportion of our own people to other countries to study¡±.

But Johanna Waters, professor of human geography at UCL, said the talks were a chance to negotiate a better deal for UK students as universities have consistently reported an uptick in interest in studying abroad.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com?