Dear fellow alumni, students, prospective students, teachers, parents,
We are sure that, like us, you are very concerned by the implications of the very sad, bad result of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. We wish to share with you the statement of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, which was published on 28 June, 2016. Here is the full text:
Last updated 28 June at 15:30
We recognise that there is a great deal of uncertainty around the referendum result that called for the UK to leave the European Union.
I would like to reassure our staff and students that discussions are already underway with senior figures in Government, higher education and other stakeholders to assess, and give due prominence to, the critical issues which are facing our University, and the sector as a whole.
At the same time, a University working group is already meeting to consider staff, students, post-doctoral research, partnerships and nationality issues.
I would like to stress again that, even though the referendum result was in favour of leaving the European Union, there is no immediate change to the University’s teaching, research and other activities. We will continue to work as normal.
The University will work closely with the Government to ensure it takes steps to guarantee that staff and students from the EU can continue to work and study in this country, and that the higher education sector has a strong voice in ongoing negotiations. Cambridge thrives as part of a wide international community of academic staff and students, and we remain deeply committed to global cooperation and our dedicated staff who come from all over the world.
It is not currently known what the impact of leaving the EU will have on UK policy on higher education tuition fees, loans and bursaries. However, the University can confirm that:
Undergraduate EU students who are already studying at Cambridge, who have an offer to study at Cambridge, or who apply in 2016 to start their studies in 2017, will continue to be charged the UK fee rate applicable at the time, provided this continues to be permitted by UK law. Please note that the UK fee rate may be subject to increases, which may be annual.
Graduate Home/EU students who are already studying at Cambridge, and those who have applied or are applying to start their studies in the academic year 2016/17, will continue to be charged the Home/EU fee rate applicable at the time of their application, provided this continues to be permitted by UK law.The fees for all applicants, including Home/EU students, considering entry in 2018 (including deferred entry from 2017), have yet to be set.
We also welcome the recent guarantees from Jo Johnson, the Minister of State for Universities and Science, regarding EU nationals and student loans/grants.
The Government has also made it clear that the referendum result will have no immediate effect on those applying to Horizon 2020. The UK’s status as a full, participating member of the Horizon 2020 programme has not changed as a result of the referendum vote – existing project grants and contracts will be honoured unless or until advised otherwise. UK institutions also remain fully eligible to apply to all funding schemes of Horizon 2020.
Work is underway to consider how best to communicate internal developments with specific members of the University. Further information will be available next week on the University’s website.
You may also be interested to read University UK’s statement on the referendum result.
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.
