Graphic credit: Aga Malik

The number of Polish students applying for universities in the UK in 2021 dropped by over 2700, comparing to the previous year. That makes it the biggest reduction in the applications number out of all European Union countries.

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The latest figures on the January application deadline, released by UCAS, show a 72% decrease in the applications of Polish students, from the 2020 numbers. It is the third-highest percentage drop after Bulgaria and Slovakia, both at a 73% decrease, however the largest difference in the number of students.

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Over the past five years, the number of Polish students applying every year has not dropped below 3000, keeping Poland in the top five nations in the applications number, next to France and Spain. 1110 applications in 2021 is the lowest number ever since the Student Loans Company introduced loans covering the costs of tuition fees in 2006.

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This year, following Brexit, the EU students living in their home countries are no longer eligible to apply for the tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company. The new requirement states that all students “must have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to get student finance.”

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Julia Oprzondek, external communication officer for the Federation of Polish Student Societies in the UK, said the lack of tuition fee loans is a direct reason for the drop in the applications number. Oprzondek said: “Zloty is a substantially weaker currency than the pound or euro. Consequently, Polish students will find it significantly more difficult to afford UK’s tuition fees than their peers from other European countries.”

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The majority of graduates from the International Baccalaureate School number 000971 in Wroclaw, Poland, over the years applied to the universities in the UK. Bartlomiej Czerkas, the headteacher of the class graduating in 2021, shared that only three students applied this year. Czerkas said: “Majority of them just couldn’t afford it. Which is a shame, considering they have spent the past two years studying all their subjects in English.”

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The uncertainty related to the global Covid-19 pandemic did not seem to have an impact on the applications, since several non-EU countries, such as Norway, Canada or the United States have seen an increase in applications compared to the previous year.