Policy Digest: January/February 2023

Updates from UAL this month 

• After several months of work, and negotiations with UAL, the Policy Team finally submitted Arts SU’s TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) submission. The submission covers various aspects of student experience and student learning, and acts as way for the TEF panel to evaluate UAL from the student perspective. The process of drafting the submission was collaborative and as a critical friend to the university, UAL have praised our submission (gaining a shout out from Roni Brown, UAL’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at last month’s AQSC meeting) so it has been a positive step for the relationship between Arts SU and the university.

• The Policy Team launched its much-anticipated Cost of Living Report, using responses from over 1,000 UAL students to paint a comprehensive picture of their challenges during the Cost of Living crisis. Learn more about the report.

HE news 

• The number of students from the European Union attending universities in the United Kingdom has more than halved since the UK formally left the EU, figures released by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) have revealed. A report published by HESA shows there was a 53 percent drop in the first year EU domiciled enrolments from 2020/21 to 2021/22. You can read more here.  

• Allegations of antisemitism incidents related to London's universities have more than doubled, a report by the Community Security Trust (CST) reveals. Across the UK, the CST received reports of 150 incidents across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. Of those, a fifth were connected to London, including four involving Queen Mary, University of London. You can read more here.  

• Students returning to campus this month are facing a bleak 2023, having seen their cost of living rise by 12.3% over the past year, about a fifth more than the price rises felt by the general public. Nearly two fifths (37%) of students who have considered quitting their degrees gave rising living costs as the main reason, while 69% of all students admitted to adjusting their spending over the last term because of the rising cost of living. You can read more here. 

Arts / Creative Industries news 

• The UK’s art market is shrinking as a result of Brexit, with art exports on the decline, and art fairs facing cancellation. Between 2019 and 2020, UK cultural goods exports plunged by 47%. A House of Lords report says that this was largely attributable to the pandemic, though some other countries achieved growth in 2020 and, by 2021, many more had exceeded pre-pandemic levels. In 2020, the UK’s 5.3% share of global creative services exports placed it in the top five biggest exporters—but only just ahead of Japan (4.4%) and the Netherlands (4.3%), and significantly behind Germany’s 7% share. You can read more here.  

• Strikes among the United Kingdom’s cultural workers forced the unexpected closure of the British Museum in London this week over poor pay and conditions. More than 100 members of the British Museum security and visitor services staff, who belong to the Culture Group of Britain’s Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union, intended to join the the strike for a week beginning on February 13. You can read more here.