The Higher Education Commission has revealed the true extent of problems in the university postgraduate system with a new report stating that the UK fails to produce the number of skilled staff required by the economy.

The report claims that the current system is more geared towards attracting an increased number of international students, who pay more money in fees, as oppose to giving quality education and training to UK graduates. As a result, it’s believed that the UK is quickly falling behind other leading nations in fields of research.

The Higher Education Commission has called for urgent reform in the postgraduate sector, issuing a stark warning that should it continue in its current state, the UK economy will suffer the worst consequences in the long-term.

Currently, the report claims that the UK risks becoming the “education outsourcing capital of the world”, training up some of the brightest from around the world but not actually offering a great deal to those who already live here.

Without switching the focus of postgraduate study on to UK nationals, the fear is that firms will be tempted to recruit more staff from overseas or even face the possibility of relocating to a country which can provide the high-level staff needed.

Graham Spittle, the man chairing the report, has said: “We can’t compete with countries like China and India on numbers, but we can compete, and win, on ideas and innovation. The postgraduate sector needs to be brought in from the cold and hardwired into the UK’s strategy for economic growth.”

Shockingly, the report claims that the number of high-fee paying foreign students undergoing postgraduate courses in the UK has risen 200% since 1999 – while the equivalent figure for UK students stands at a meagre 18%.

If nothing else, this report highlights the desperate measures that universities will go to in order to seek maximum monetary gain, something all students are now feeling the pinch of.