Universities fret over lack of UK interest in AI scholarships

English university leaders have expressed concern about a lack of interest from UK-domiciled students in government-backed scholarships for artificial intelligence and data science courses.

The scholarships for postgraduate conversion courses, now worth £10,000 each, have been offered since 2020-21, but a significant change for 2023-24 onwards effectively limited eligibility to UK-domiciled applicants.

An interim report on the scholarships, which are funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology through the Office for Students, says that there had been some concern about this move, “especially considering the trend…where an increasing percentage of scholarships were being granted to international students over time”.

Data in the report says that 68 of the 818 planned scholarships for 2023-24, or 8 per cent, were unallocated at the time of writing, although it was hoped that this could be reduced to around 50, or 6 per cent. Eleven providers – around one in three participating – reported that they were not on track on award all their scholarships.

“Several providers reported both a lack of UK students applying for the conversion courses in the first place and, especially, a lack of UK students who met the eligibility criteria for OfS scholarships,” says the report, produced by the Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC).

“One concern expressed was that a limited pool of UK students eligible for scholarships led to the position where scholarships were being awarded to weaker students, than had international students also been eligible.

“This led some to fear that providers in future might be incentivised to lower their entry requirements for students, in order to expand the pool of UK-enrolled students, which could potentially influence the calibre of students on already challenging courses and accrue problems down the line (such as more frequent drop-out or non-completion).”

Many providers “reported high numbers of (ineligible) international students still applying for scholarships”, adds the report, published on 17 September.

Artificial intelligence courses at UK universities have proved particularly popular with international students, a fact underlined by a survey of students on the conversion courses – not limited to scholarship recipients – quoted in the CRAC report. Of 453 respondents, only 23 per cent were from the UK, with 4 per cent from the European Union and 72 per cent from further afield. Of those from outside the UK and EU, 60 per cent were from either Nigeria or India – 46 per cent of all survey respondents.

Despite the concern over domestic student interest, the CRAC report notes that there has still been a significant increase in the number of scholarships being funded, up from 440 in 2022-23.

And the total number of students enrolled on the conversion courses has exceeded expectations, standing at 4,707, against a prediction of 4,200.

But the report says that universities have “found it much harder than expected” to win industry support for additional scholarships, with only 19 additional bursaries being funded via this route.

And it notes that it is now “commonplace” for home fees for a conversion course to be in excess of £10,000, the value of the scholarship which was set back in 2019, meaning that none of the funding can be put towards living costs.

“This erosion of perceived scholarship value could contribute to limited demand from eligible students,” the report says, although it notes that there is no firm evidence of this yet. However, it continues, “related concerns are emerging that students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds could be deterred from applying for financial reasons”.

“There are some fears that comparatively limited scholarship funding (relative to the costs of studying and support) may result in financial pressure, leading to vulnerable students being unable to follow and complete courses successfully,” the report says.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com