More UK students could head to Europe’s universities

Education institutions from across the European Union will be able to apply to join Ucas

Students occupy a lecture room at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (Getty)

More British students could head out to Munich, Montpellier or Milan after the university admissions service changed the rules about applications to European Universities.

Education institutions from across the European Union will be able to apply to join Ucas, raising the prospect of universities in Germany, Scandinavia and Holland offering places alongside those in the UK.

British students, who currently have to apply directly individual institutions if they want to study at a European university, will also be able to apply using the same process used for those in Britain. They could also offer places in the clearing system after A-level results.

A Ucas spokesperson said they would “consider requests” from European higher education providers “if they can demonstrate that they meet equivalent standards to those in the UK”.

But they insisted that student interests should be protected, saying they wanted them “to be confident that they are applying for a verified qualification at an institution which meets the relevant quality standards”.

They did not disclose any universities applying to join but some European colleges are already accessible through the Ucas system, such as the Amsterdam Fashion Academy, although this is for a degree credited by the UK’s Buckinghamshire New University.

Maastricht University in the Netherlands has also said that it would like to become part of the Ucas system in the past.

Europe could prove attractive. Already many courses in Scandinavia and the Netherlands are taught in English, and the Paris Saclay University in France is intending to join them.

Meanwhile, tuition fees were scrapped in Germany this year and are far lower in many European countries than the UK.

“The higher education environment has changed significantly in the last few years with the intention of giving students more choice,” said the Ucas spokesperson.

“The inclusion of a wider range of higher education providers offers students more choice about where and what to study,” they added.