The articles in the top echelons of Times Higher Education’s annual most-read list are not always the same pieces which editors would pick out as our most impactful or significant journalism over the preceding 12 months. They are, however, a reliable guide to readers’ interests, and to ongoing higher education policy pressure points. This year’s list features some familiar themes, and also marks a bounce back for news articles, after opinion pieces topped the 2023 table.
15. PhDs: is doctoral education in trouble in the UK?
Postgraduate and early-career topics always perform strongly online, perhaps reflecting the challenges faced by the large number of junior scholars trying to get on to the first rung of the academic ladder. In this long read, Jack Grove analysed the fall in the number of doctoral students being funded by UK Research and Innovation, and further potential limits on PhD numbers – a worrying sign for a country hoping to supercharge economic growth via innovation.
14. Scotland wants more overseas students to stay after graduation
International student issues always attract significant online traffic, particularly when they are related to post-study work eligibility – indicating a type of content that likely attracts a readership far wider than THE’s core audience of academics and higher education professionals. This article focused on the Scottish government’s plans to diversify its international student intake and retain more overseas learners after they graduate, with a focus on the Scottish National Party’s proposal for a five-year post-study work visa if Scotland was to become independent.
13. Pushback against ‘ugly’ Imperial College London logo
University rebrands can be a fraught exercise, with Imperial College London being the latest institution to discover this when it unveiled a new logo that some staff and students condemned as “ugly” and as emphasising “pejorative historical connotations”. Thousands of people signed a petition against the logo, which stripped away most of the university’s formal name to leave just “Imperial”. The removal of “London” from the logo – with the capital being a key selling point for the institution, particularly overseas – also raised eyebrows. An Imperial spokesperson said that the new visual identity was “modern, confident and expressive, articulating Imperial’s purpose, vision, strengths and impact”.
12. PhDs for everyone will not improve academia
Lincoln Allison provoked lively debate with this long read which argued that, while ever-expanding numbers of doctoral students may suit universities and their bottom lines, one’s twenties should be a time for broad learning and professional development, not for burying oneself in detailed research. Recalling how he went straight from undergraduate studies into lecturing, he asked: “Isn’t it, frankly, rather tragic to spend several years in what should be the most productive time of your life studying in a rather specialised way and neither getting to share your work with a wider audience nor receiving a decent job out of it?”
11. Nottingham introduces ‘reduced offers’ for international students
News that the University of Nottingham was to begin allowing international students to enrol with lower entry grades than would usually be allowed may have attracted interest from overseas learners seeking to study in the UK, but it was also a sign of the mounting financial crisis in British higher education. Coming after the University of York told staff to take a “more flexible approach” to students who missed their offer grades in response to “current financial challenges”, Nottingham’s approach reflected the significant drop in international enrolments this year, and the associated decline in lucrative tuition fees. As the year ended, Nottingham posted an operating deficit of £17 million for 2023-24, despite managing to increase its international postgraduate intake.
10. Australian universities cancel enrolments as visa rejections leap
Australia’s turn against international students has been one of the big stories of 2024, with ministers trying – and failing – to pass legislation capping overseas enrolments, before resurrecting the limits via a ministerial direction as the year came to a close. This article by John Ross focused on the impact of an earlier ministerial direction, which ordered immigration officials to prioritise student visa applications based on “risk levels” associated with institutions. The consequence was universities retracting certificates of enrolment issued to students amid fears that visa refusals could lead to their risk level being increased – costing applicants hundreds of dollars in lost visa and foreign exchange fees, and possibly costing Australia much more dearly in lost goodwill.
9. Graduate visa review ‘can’t be allowed to threaten its existence’
UK higher education was put into panic mode when the now-ousted Conservative government announced a review of the graduate route post-study work visa, which allows overseas university leavers to stay in the country for two years after finishing their course, and is a key part of Britain’s offer to prospective applicants. John Morgan’s article explored fears that the Home Office’s focus on visa “abuse” represented a “back door” attempt to do away with the graduate route altogether – a fate that the sector was spared after the Migration Advisory Committee concluded that it was “not undermining the integrity of and quality of the UK higher education system”, and indeed was key to the sector’s financial sustainability.
8. Renaming postdocs and PhD students would boost respect, pay, progression
This opinion piece by Michele Nardin argued that the terminology used to describe early-career researchers “is more than a mere label; it shapes perceptions and realities”. “Within academia, the titles ‘PhD student’ and ‘postdoc’ obscure the professional nature and expertise of these roles and perpetuate a hierarchy that unacceptably extends the period of ‘training’ and justifies lower compensation and precarious contracts,” wrote Dr Nardin, arguing that “junior researcher” and simply “researcher” would be far preferable. “Redefining early-career researchers’ job titles is a simple and low-cost step towards enhancing young researchers’ self-perception and improving public understanding of their work,” she said.
7. Three UK universities put on student visa ‘action plans’
News that three UK universities had been placed on student visa sponsorship “action plans” – requiring them to improve their processes after a minor breach of government rules – would be a concern to prospective and current students, but also to institutional leaders, not least because of their reliance on international student fees. Patrick Jack’s scoop revealed that the University of Central Lancashire, De Montfort University and Nottingham Trent University were the trio in trouble. “If I were involved in a day-to-day basis with any of those universities, I would have fixing this right at the top of my to-do list,” said Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute. “International students are the oil that keeps our system going…they lubricate everything else that goes on.”
6. More than 3,500 UK study visa applications withdrawn in 2024
The drop in international recruitment at UK universities this year was driven by the last government’s decision to ban international students from bringing family members with them to the UK outside of postgraduate research courses. Patrick Jack’s article revealed that the move was not just leading to declining student interest, but also a spike in the number of applicants choosing to withdraw their student visa requests. A total of 3,587 main applicant study visa applications were withdrawn in the first six months of 2024 – a “startling” 748 per cent increase on 423 during the same period in 2023, and considerably more than any other year on record, said study abroad application platform ApplyBoard.
5. Graduate route spared as UK announces new student visa rules
Students and universities breathed a sigh of relief when ministers stepped back from scrapping the UK’s graduate route, and left the two-year post-study work visa intact. The Conservative government said that the route would be kept under review owing to concerns it was “not attracting the highest earners who contribute to our economy”, but within months it was voted out of office, with Labour striking a more welcoming tone towards international students. Vivienne Stern, Universities UK’s chief executive, said at the time of the visa announcement that universities felt “huge relief”. “What we need now is a period of stability, and a shared commitment to delivering a stable and well managed international student landscape,” she said.
4. PhD students protest against IIT’s ‘paper per semester rule’
India has faced concerns throughout 2024 about mounting numbers of suicides among doctoral researchers, with at least 11 taking their lives so far this year. Jack Grove’s article focused on the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, often regarded as India’s most prestigious higher education institution, demanding that its PhD students should produce at least one journal paper per semester. The policy provoked campus protests, warning that pressure to publish would only increase the challenges facing doctoral researchers.
3. Canadian recruitment collapse ‘a warning’ to UK and Australia
It was not just the UK and Australia seeking to dampen international student flows during 2024 – Canada was at the vanguard of a global turn against student mobility, announcing in January that it would cut the number of student visas being issued by a third. In the event, the effect of this announcement combined with other policy changes – such as higher wealth requirements and new working regulations – meant that universities were expected to fall well short of that cap, with projections by admission firm ApplyBoard indicating that just 231,000 permits would be approved by the end of the year, a fall of 47 per cent. Patrick Jack’s article focused on the impact on Canadian universities, and also the potential implications for other major anglophone sectors mulling their own restrictions. “They say a reputation takes a lifetime to build and a day to destroy, and governments need to be very mindful of that,” said Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada.
2. Nigerian PhD student awarded compensation in ‘landmark’ UK case
At first glance, the amount of interest in this article about a single student’s experience might seem surprising. But the case of Sue Agazie – a former PhD student at Newcastle University – tapped into long-running concerns about the treatment of international students in the UK, particularly when their immigration status is put at risk. Ms Agazie moved to the UK from Nigeria with her husband and child in 2023 on the understanding – she said – that she was likely to receive a full scholarship for her studies or would gain enough part-time academic work to cover her living costs. Yet the funding or paid work did not materialise, causing her to run up considerable debts. Amid a breakdown in relations with her primary supervisor, Ms Agazie was diagnosed with kidney failure in September 2023. Requiring medical treatment in the UK to stay alive, she claimed the business school’s decision to contact the Home Office over her immigration status – which the university says it was legally obliged to do – had caused her additional stress. Eventually Newcastle University paid a tuition fee refund and £5,000 compensation, conceding that although correct procedures had been followed, communications from tuition fee and accommodation teams had caused Ms Agazie “additional anxiety”.
1. Ill Nigerian PhD student who complained faces losing visa
The plight of Sue Agazie also takes the top spot in our most-read list, with Jack Grove’s original article of May outlining the PhD student’s plight. Sanaz Raji, a visiting researcher at Northumbria University, said the notification of the Home Office was an example of the “weaponisation of [Ms Agazie’s] immigration status” in a university disputes process. “Forcing an international student into immigration problems while a complaint is under way…is basically telling international students not to complain,” she said.