Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697803735046.pdf (Ireland)
HEA Opening Statement Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science - Discussion on North South Student Enrolment in Tertiary Education.

14th of February 2023 Chairperson and Members of the Committee My colleagues and I are pleased to assist this Committee in its consideration of topics referred to in your letter of 12th of January last.
On the matter of North South student enrolment in tertiary education the recently enacted Higher Education Authority Act 2022 states under the functions that the HEA must.. “promote co-operation and collaboration with regard to higher education (including with regard to the provision of student places and the enrolment of students) with authorities having responsibility for higher education in Northern Ireland, including the promotion of co- operation between designated institutions of higher education and institutions of higher education in Northern Ireland,” The HEA through its Student Record System collects student enrolment and graduate data from its higher education institutions on an annual basis.
This data includes their domiciliary of origin and therefore the enrolment records of students from Northern Ireland enrolled in HEA designated higher education institutions is captured in the system.

The HEA in collaboration with the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland (NI) published two reports on students flows between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2013 and 2018.
More recently the HEA conducted a piece of analysis for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on the enrolment trends between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland including cross border flows.

The data was sourced from our Student Record System and JISC on behalf of the Higher Education Statistics Agency in the United Kingdom.
1 The cross-border flow of students between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland continues to be a key element of cultural and educational collaboration between the two jurisdictions.

In 2020/21, there was a flow of 3,915 HE students’ cross border; 1,745 NI students to ROI HEIs and 2,170 ROI students to NI HEIs.

Of the total student flow cross border, approximately 63% were undergraduate students and 37% were postgraduate students.
By mode of study, 68% were full-time students and 32% were part-time students.

The overall numbers enrolled has remained relatively steady over the last 5 years.

The majority of NI students studying in the ROI are undergraduate at 75% whereas the proportion of ROI students studying in NI is much more equal with 54% studying undergraduate and 46% studying postgraduate.

Females are more likely than males to enroll cross border at undergraduate level in the ROI or Northern Ireland.
In 2020/21, 67% of enrolments in NI from ROI were female while 57% of ROI students studying in NI were female.

ROI students studying in NI are predominantly studying subjects allied to Medicine, Business and Management while NI students studying in ROI are predominantly studying Arts and Humanities, Business Studies and Health and Welfare.
In the academic year 2020/2021 83% of NI new entrants entering ROI higher education institutions enrolled in Dundalk Institute of Technology, University of Galway, Trinity College and University College Dublin.

The majority of ROI students attended Ulster University at 59% and Queens University Belfast at 46.1%.

The HEA manages the Erasmus programme.


In 2020, the United Kingdom withdrew from the Erasmus+ programme but it will continue to send and receive students and staff until 2022/2023 under agreements signed before the end of 2020.

This measure was introduced by the European Commission as a response to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Higher education institutions in Northern Ireland have taken up this option and a number will continue to send and receive students until 2023.
2 The HEA is in discussion with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science to develop a scheme to allow eligible students from higher education institutions in Northern Ireland to continue participating in Erasmus+ on the basis of temporary registration at Irish higher education institutions, with implementation in September 2023.

The HEA manages a number of funding initiatives for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
These initiatives either partly or fully promote cross border activity in Tertiary Education and Research.

In 2018 through its Landscape funding, the HEA provided €250,000 for Cross-Border FE and HE Partnership.

The Cross-border FE HE Partnership was modelled on HE Clusters, as envisaged in the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, and involved the Ulster University, LyIT/ATU, North-West Regional College and Donegal Education and Training Board.
This funding contributed to the development of a coordinated academic plan that exploits opportunities for collaboration and study pathways for students in the region and the development of a regional FE/HE prospectus.

Landscape funding in 2019 provided €500,000 for the Smart Industry Northwest City Region.

This funding contributed to providing clear cross-border Smart Industry learning pathways for students/learners from foundation level and the establishment of Smart Industry Research Studentships.
In addition, HEA Performance Funding in 2019 awarded to Letterkenny Institute of Technology supported a project aimed to support high value employment opportunities and data science support for industry in the region, particularly in ICT and FinTech.

In support of this a new Data Science Research Centre – Artificial Intelligence North West, was established supported by two new funded post-doctoral researchers.
This aim was further supported by new Postgraduate Research Student Awards which supported a jointly supervised PhD with Ulster University and a jointly supervised Masters by Research with Ulster University.

In 2021, the Shared Island Unit allocated €40m to the North-South Research Programme (NSRP) over 5 years, which is being delivered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
3 Following a very successful first call in 2021, which received 367 eligible applications, 62 projects were funded across 3 strands to the value of €37.28m (including HEA co-funding), with project implementation having started in September 2022.
Projects are strengthening links between higher education institutions, research communities, and researchers across the island of Ireland by delivering all-island approaches to research and innovation through a lens nuanced by the objectives of the Good Friday Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, the National Development Plan 2040, and the strategic development of research and higher education.
The programme also aligns with the objectives of Pillar 51 of the new national research strategy, Impact 2030.

Each project is underpinned by the aims of the Shared Island Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach and the criteria of the NSRP.

Out of the 62 successful projects from Call 1 of the North-South Research Programme, 19 projects include research students.
Over a period of 4 years, Strand II Department to Department projects, focusing on the establishment of ‘Emerging Hubs of Excellence’, will support 31 PhD students and 2 Masters students – whereas 18 PhD students will be linked to Strand III Institution to Institution projects, contributing to building ‘Partnerships of scale’.
In addition to the collaboration between Higher Education Institutions, all NSRP projects were encouraged to establish links with relevant third-party collaborators such as NGOs and charities (49%), hospitals (11%), SMEs (7%), state agencies (2%), and other public institutions.

The HEAs new legislation will provide opportunities for further collaboration with the Tertiary Education Sector in Northern Ireland.
The HEA looks forward to liaising with our colleagues in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to establish how the HEA can play an enhanced role in furthering north south collaboration through higher education and research.

Thank you.

We look forward to your questions and a discussion on these matters with the Committee today.
1 Impact 2030, Pillar 5: Research and innovation contributes to a shared island and innovative Europe through strong all- island, European and global R&I collaborations.

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