New Campus Glasgow: Strategic Benefits Analysis
46
Assuming around 1,700 international students currently at the three colleges, this implies
gross expenditure of £9m by international students.
6.26 Calculating the proportion of this expenditure that is net, requires adjustments to be
made to take account of:
• Additionality: the fact that the majority of learners would live and spend money
within the Glasgow economy even if the three city-centre colleges did not exist.
We estimate that the additionality is low for most students, (15%, reflecting the fact
that the majority of this off-site student expenditure would take place in the
absence of the colleges), but very high for international students (100%, reflecting
that none of this expenditure would occur if the colleges did not exist)
• Displacement: the fact that some learners would study at other colleges or
universities throughout Glasgow or Scotland if the three city-centre colleges did
not exist. We assume that displacement is very low for most learners (10%,
reflecting the fact that most local colleges are already operating at close to
capacity), but moderate for international students (30%, reflecting that some
international students would visit other institutions throughout Scotland, but that
this effect is limited because of the specialist nature of provision at the city-centre
colleges).
• Leakage: the fact that some of the students' expenditure will benefit businesses
outside Glasgow or indeed Scotland (such as publishers for example). We
assume that leakage will be relatively low (10%) on the grounds that the bulk of
participation costs are spent on travel, which by definition is a local expenditure.
• Multipliers: a standard multiplier of 1.3 is used to reflect the indirect and induced
impacts of students' expenditure on other businesses within the Glasgow
economy.
6.27 The impacts of this adjustment are shown in Table 6.3 below. In net terms, the
colleges account for expenditure of some £12m per annum by students in the local economy.
Table 6.3: Net impact of learners' expenditure
FT and PT International
Learners 31114 1700
Annual expenditure attributable
to college participation £639 £5,320
Gross expenditure £19,881,846 £9,044,000
Additionality 0.15 1
Displacement 0.9 0.7
Leakage 0.9 0.9
Multiplier 1.3 1.3
Net impact £3,140,338 £7,407,036
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Appendix 13: Economic Impact Report