U4D report reveals Londonderry's university deficit

Northern Ireland is suffering a "brain drain" because 20,000 of its best and brightest are studying at university in Great Britain - and half of these will not return, the report argues.

The report - independently researched and written - shows that an extra two universities are required in Northern Ireland if it is to match England's ratio of students to population.

The report also demonstrates that Greater Belfast has almost twice the proportion of students in its population as Londonderry.

"This report is clear and the case is made," says Padraig Canavan, chair of U4D. "Northern Ireland has a deficit in university places.

"That student deficit turns after graduation into a skills deficit. Every year we hand over thousands of our brightest and best and give them to Great Britain for it to boost its economy.

"We must keep more of our best people - and attracted more from elsewhere. If Northern Ireland is serious about becoming a world class economy then we need world class graduates - and that means boosting the number of university places.

"In particular, if Derry-Londonderry is to pay its own way, and reduce the unemployment and poverty in the city, then the way to achieve this is the expansion of Magee. We are calling for Magee to be allowed to expand student numbers to 10,000. Anyone reading this report will understand exactly why we are doing so."

Key points from the report relating to university provision include that 20,260 Northern Ireland students study elsewhere in the UK; a mere 1,005 students from GB study in Northern Ireland.

The number of NI students at university in GB is equivalent to two large universities and an extra 15,405 university places are required in Northern Ireland to match England's proportion of students to total population.

Furthermore only half of Northern Ireland students who go to university in GB come back to NI to work and 79 per cent of Northern Ireland's university students are based in Greater Belfast, compared to 28 per cent of the population.

Indeed Greater Belfast has ten times more higher education students than Londonderry, but a population six times the size.

Increases in university provision in Great Britain in recent years have not been matched in NI. In 2008, admissions of English undergraduates rose by 11.9 per cent: in NI it was only 3.3 per cent.

U4D believe that If investment into HE in Northern Ireland were to rise to English levels, there would be a 72 per cent increase in spending - or an additional 170 million per year.