Universities face a "brain drain" following Brexit it is feared, as 40 per cent of UK academics say they are “more likely to consider leaving Britain" after the vote to leave the European Union.

Three-quarters of continental EU academics in the country said they are now more likely to leave, according to a University and College Union (UCU) survey of over 1,000 lecturers and professors in UK higher education.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU, said: “I am deeply worried that so many academics already know of staff leaving as a result of the Brexit vote, and that three-quarters of EU nationals are now considering leaving the UK."

Of academics leaving the UK, 29 per cent of respondents said they already know of some that have already left and 44 per cent said they know of academics who have lost access to research funding as a direct result of the Brexit vote.

The majority of respondents, 90 per cent, said they think Brexit will have a negative impact on the UK higher education sector.