Post-study work visas under review in migration clampdown

Universities and higher education stakeholders in the United Kingdom are assessing the self-inflicted damage likely to be caused by the Conservative government’s latest attempt to clamp down on record levels of net migration, which includes a promised review into the length of post-study work visas and raising the minimum salary threshold for skilled foreign workers by a third.

James Pitman, managing director (UK and Europe) for international higher education pathway provider Study Group, warned: “The last thing the government should be doing is damaging confidence in the UK higher education offering by commencing a review of the post-study work Graduate Route”.

Speaking to University World News, he said: “The international student market is becoming ever more competitive, with Australia in particular rapidly regaining market share.”

He said the British post-study work period was “already uncompetitive in comparison with Australia’s six years of post-study work experience for many international students”, while the UK currently allows most international students to stay in the UK for two years after graduation to find employment.

Recent research from international education specialists IDP Education showed that 44% of international students would change their destination country if the post-study work period was reduced, he said.

“The irony is that the [UK] Graduate Route is particularly valued by those international students who disproportionately go to universities in levelling up areas of the UK, so any review outcome that ends up reducing the Graduate Route offer will inevitably have a direct negative economic impact on those areas of the country that the government is so keen to level up, not down,” he said.

Already, fewer visas

The review of the UK Graduate Route was announced in the House of Commons on 4 December by recently appointed Home Secretary James Cleverley, who replaced Suella Braverman.

Braverman tried unsuccessfully earlier this year to cut the length of time overseas students can stay in the UK to look for a job after graduating to just six months.

Before she was sacked, Braverman did, however, announce a package of measures, including removing the right for international students to bring dependants from January 2024, unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes.

This has already led to many UK universities reporting reduced interest in studying on one-year masters programmes starting next year, particularly from India and Nigeria. Overseas undergraduate students were already unable to bring dependants when studying at UK universities.

“The latest data from Enroly shows significant reductions in issued visas in the current recruitment cycle compared to this time last year,” Dr Janet Ilieva, founder of Education Insight, told University World News.

“Post-study work rights are now the norm across the top study destinations, and uncertainty related to post-study work means students can switch instantly to another country,” she said.

Pressure to curb migration

The new home secretary has been under pressure from the right-wing of the governing Conservative Party to curb migration which, while falling from countries in the European Union since Brexit, has soared to record levels from the rest of the world.

Cleverley told parliament that the provisional estimate of net migration for the year ending June 2023 was 672,000, “which while down on the year ending December 2022 is still far too high”.

His announcement on 4 December said: “That means not only stopping the boats and shutting down illegal routes, but a well-managed reduction in legal migration.”

As well as removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate research programmes, Cleverley said: “We have also stopped international students switching out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed.

“These changes will have a tangible impact on net migration; around 153,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending September 2023.”

Five-point plan

The home secretary’s “five-point plan to further curb immigration abuses” includes stopping overseas care workers bringing family dependants and increasing the skilled worker earnings threshold for foreign workers by a third, from £26,200 (nearly US$33,000) to £38,700 from next spring.

Also scrapped is the 20% salary discount which allowed firms to hire labour from overseas to fill jobs on a shortage occupation list. Health and social care will be exempted from this, at least for the time being.

“We will ensure that people bring only dependants whom they can support financially, by raising the minimum income for family visas to the same threshold as the minimum salary threshold for skilled workers, which is £38,700. The minimum income requirement is currently £18,600 and has not been increased since 2012. This package of measures will take effect from next spring.

“Having already banned overseas masters students from bringing family members to the UK, I have asked the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Graduate Route to prevent abuse and protect the integrity and quality of the UK’s outstanding higher education sector,” said Cleverley.

“It needs to work in the best interests of the UK, supporting the pathway into high-quality jobs for the global talent pool, but reducing opportunities for abuse.

“This package of measures, in addition to the measures on student dependants that we announced in May, will mean that around 300,000 fewer people will be eligible to come to the UK than came last year,” claimed Cleverley.

The ‘illusion’ of ‘Global Britain’

Dr Diana Beech, chief executive officer of the London Higher lobbying group, told University World News: “The decision to raise the salary threshold for international workers risks depriving the UK's higher education and research sector of essential international talent, given many early career research positions are remunerated below this level, especially in the arts and humanities.”

Beech explained: “The incompatibility between the new visa threshold and the realities of the research career is yet more proof of the lack of join-up between Whitehall departments, and the realisation that thousands of talented researchers may be blocked from coming to the UK to work in the future rather took the shine off a day when the UK’s research sector should have been celebrating the UK’s accession to Horizon Europe and the increased opportunities for mobility it affords.

“With the Migration Advisory Committee having been asked to review the current post-study work visa too, whoever is in government when it reports will have to take its advice seriously. So the pressure is now on to make the case for international education and research mobility to policy-makers irrespective of political colour.”

Beech also warned: “Any moves to restrict or abolish the post-study work visa now will be the final nail in the coffin for the illusion of ‘Global Britain’, with the UK already being seen as unwelcoming to international students following a swathe of recent regressive policy changes.”

Vivienne Stern MBE, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “Universities will be concerned at the potential impact of changes to skilled salary thresholds and the shortage occupation list. This could impact universities’ ability to attract global talent, in disciplines ranging from civil and mechanical engineers to lab technicians and IT specialists.”

She did, however, welcome both the UK finally signing an agreement the day before Cleverley’s announcement, which confirmed the UK’s (re)association to the European Union’s Horizon research and innovation programme, from 2024, and what she interpreted as the government remaining “committed to maintaining the Graduate Route”, despite its length now being under review.

On the Horizon move, Stern said: “The UK scientific community has a huge contribution to make to the generation of new knowledge as an associated country, and also stands to benefit from the opportunity to work seamlessly with researchers all over the world, in the EU and beyond it.”

Sector wake-up call

Others in the sector described the home secretary’s package of measures to curb migration as “a wake-up call” to the higher education sector.

David Pilsbury, chief development officer at Oxford International Education Group, which has been providing support services to the International Higher Education Commission chaired by former universities minister Chris Skidmore, urged sector leaders to stop talking so much to themselves and to start engaging with those “who don’t believe our narrative” about the value of higher education to the country.

“The current UK Government clearly believes in the central importance of UK universities; it believes in education as a driver of social change and economic development and wants us to be a global research superpower.

“It just doesn’t believe that is more important than making progress on immigration given its standing in the polls,” he said.

Amanda Gregory, a higher education consultant with over 30 years of experience in helping universities and schools with international enrolment strategies, posted on LinkedIn: “A recent study showed that international students starting their studies in 2020-21 would generate up to £41.9 billion for the UK economy. This is compared to the estimated £4.4 billion it costs the UK to host them and any dependants they may have. This implies a net benefit of £37.4 billion for the UK economy. When will the UK government wake up?”

Chiamaka Nnamoko, a student services specialist at the University of York, said: “I completely understand the UK’s desire to manage net migration, but their approach seems to be deeply flawed. International students and migrant workers are not the problem.”

She claimed: “The UK’s current strategy fails to address the underlying causes of migration and instead targets individuals who contribute positively to British society. This approach not only harms innocent individuals but also undermines the UK’s economic vibrancy.

“These internationals do too much to not be recognised; yet are often seen as mere ‘cash cows’.”

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com