The government of Qatar has announced recently a new law concerning national service.   The service duration has increased from three months to one year and it has become compulsory for every Qatari male between the ages of 18 and 35 or having a high school certificate or equivalent, whichever is prior, to perform a mandatory military service (optional for females). No appointment will be allowed for any employments nor any permit will be granted for practicing free profession or study until this obligatory military service is performed by the candidates. However, it is not applicable to individuals who have completed active service or have been barred or exempted from or whose services are been deferred. 

Despite announcing guidelines on who should be exempted or entitled for deferral, there have been some negotiations which led to lack of clarity and conflicting messages on practical implications on student recruitment. 

After consulting the ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Ministry of Administrative Development at different stages, they both said that students who get a deferral approval/clearance from the national service authorities, will be considered for a scholarship to go to the UK, but the student has to get the exception first and this is between the student and the relevant authorities.  The same applies to self-funded students as they won’t be granted non-objection letters from the MoEHE unless they get a deferral approval/clearance from the national service authorities.

Generally, and according to the most recent news, deferral will be automatically granted to students joining a university on the Emiri scholarship list or opting for medicine degree.  Other general eligibility criteria can be found here.

Impact on UK student recruitment

In the short-run (Recruitment for Academic Year 2018/19):

• The enforcement of the new law should have direct negative impact on Qatari male student recruitment as they account for 56% of Qatari-domiciled student; however, some may still be entitled for deferral or exemption
• There should be no impact on students who were enrolled in an academic programme before April 2018 as they can request for deferral for one renewable year
• We anticipate there should be no impact on female student recruitment (according to HESA, 30% of Qatar-domiciled students are females)
• We anticipate there should be no impact on non-Qataris student recruitment (according to HESA, 25% of Qatar-domiciled students are non-Qataris)

In the medium-run (Recruitment for Academic Year 2019/20 and beyond)

• We anticipate demand for Study in the UK will increase again once students complete their national service 
• We anticipate national service graduates will have higher discipline and pose higher level skills that are necessary to pursue a UK qualification
• We anticipate less demand for pre-sessional EAP English courses in the UK since the one year national service programme includes 9 months of academic pre-university training at the Qatar Armed Forces Academic Bridge Programme as per this article
• In two to three years, we anticipate less demand for foundation courses in the UK as the Qatar Armed Forces Academic Bridge Programme might be interested in signing articulation agreements for direct entry into the UK