Four out of five Britons are in favour of allowing scientists, academics and their support staff to work in this country at any stage of their career, a survey suggests.

In a poll commissioned by Universities UK, whose results were published on 10 December, just over 4,000 British adults were asked what they would like from the UK¡¯²õ immigration system in the event of Brexit.

Almost nine in 10 respondents (85 per cent) said that it is important for the UK to be a world leader in science and research, while 87 per cent said it is more important that the UK¡¯²õ immigration system attracts university staff who are highly skilled. Only 3 per cent of British adults agreed instead that it was more important that the UK¡¯²õ future immigration system attracts university staff who are highly paid.

The poll, which was conducted by Savanta ComRes, comes as the Migration Advisory Committee explores the creation of a points-based immigration system and a salary threshold for international staff following?the UK¡¯²õ departure from the European Union.

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Meanwhile, the Conservative Party has committed in its to introduce a ¡°Australian-style points-based system to control immigration¡±. In Australia, visa decisions have been determined on the basis of points awarded for education qualifications, language competency, age and work experience, albeit accompanied by ¡°relatively high levels of immigration by international standards¡±, according to the University of Oxford¡¯²õ .

Seven in 10 respondents (69 per cent) in the UUK survey said that a UK points-based immigration system should be designed so that scientists, academics and their support staff score highly.

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Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK,?said that the polling ¡°shows the strength of feeling among the British public that immigrants should be welcomed into the country on the strength of their skills and potential rather than facing a system that judges them on their income¡±.

¡°If a new immigration system were to have a salary threshold, Universities UK has called for a threshold of??21,000 which would allow recruitment for most technician and language assistant roles in the higher education sector,¡± said Mr Jarvis.

He added that staff who may potentially fall beneath this threshold, such as technicians, researchers and language assistants, were ¡°all vital in supporting both high-quality teaching and innovative research at our universities¡±.?

Mr Jarvis continued: ¡°As the UK prepares to leave the EU, it is more vital than ever that the UK remains a world leader in science and research and continues to attract international talent at different stages of their careers ¨C from support staff and technicians to Nobel Prize winners.¡±

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com