Government cuts time foreign students can stay on to work

A United Kingdom government white paper published on Monday says the government will shorten the time international graduates can stay on and work from two years to 18 months and will explore imposing a levy, or tax, on income universities receive from international student tuition fees.

Higher education leaders were expecting to take stronger medicine in the white paper on immigration this week – but sector leaders were still surprised by the raft of measures proposed.

While most vice-chancellors breathed a sigh of relief that the post-study Graduate (work) Route was largely spared and that fears about a study visa clampdown on recruiting students from countries with the highest numbers claiming asylum after finishing their courses proved unfounded, most observers believe the white paper will make the UK less attractive to overseas students and hit the finances of higher education institutions already struggling with a financial crisis.

The white paper, titled “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”, was unveiled in the House of Commons by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday 12 May.

She said tough action was necessary after net migration to the United Kingdom quadrupled in the four years after Brexit and reached just over 900,000 in 2023, before falling back to 728,000 last year (largely as a result of the ban on taught masters students bringing dependants with them).

Higher education was spared the toughest proposals to cut immigration, which will see the end of overseas recruitment to the social care sector and the raising of the skilled worker visa threshold to graduate level for all but essential (workforce shortages) areas to be justified in liaison with the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

Graduate Route cut to 18 months

Although still in place, the Graduate Route, which has proved very popular with students from India, Nigeria, Pakistan and many other developing countries as it currently allows overseas graduates to work in the UK for two years to help pay off their expensive international tuition fees, is to be cut to 18 months.

More worrying for many higher education leaders are plans to strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.

The measures are designed to stop the UK’s student visa system from “being undermined, both by individuals from overseas seeking to exploit it and by education providers in this country failing to protect it” – in the words of the white paper.

The Home Office is particularly concerned at the large numbers of international students claiming asylum as their visas approach expiry, including where circumstances in their home country have not changed, as University World News recently reported.

‘Harsh’ compliance rules

To this end, the white paper says the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA), an annual assessment used to monitor each sponsor’s level of compliance with the visa and immigration rules, is also to be tightened up.

At present, there are three areas, or metrics, that sponsoring institutions must meet: a visa refusal rate of less than 10%; a course enrolment rate of at least 90%; and a course completion rate of at least 85%.

The white paper says these minimum pass requirements will be increased by five percentage points so that, for example, a sponsor must maintain a course enrolment rate of at least 95% and a course completion rate of 90% in order to pass the compliance threshold.

Dr David Pilsbury, who coordinated an independent International Higher Education Commission (IHEC) study to come up with a fresh idea for the UK’s new international education strategy, told University World News that while there was acceptance of “the need for change in the immigration space”, there were serious concerns about the BCA proposals.

Pilsbury said: “UNESCO figures show the UK has substantially better retention and completion rates than our competitors, so the wholesale changes in the BCA thresholds are harsh.”

Student outcomes

Dr Janet Ilieva, founder of Education Insight, said that linking student visas with student outcomes meant assessing universities with the best past performance and would benefit universities recruiting students from countries with similar higher education systems to the UK.

“It will have an adverse impact on diversity and inclusivity and push institutions towards countries with low drop-out rates, such as China, which previous government policy has actively encouraged higher education institutions to diversify away from.

“In addition, administering such requirements will have huge financial implications.

“It will require a significant investment in admissions, student support, and ongoing monitoring of students' academic performance.

“This will be prohibitive for small and specialist institutions, which are likely to suspend international student recruitment as a result,” she stated.

However, Alex Lock, head of immigration compliance at Anglia Ruskin University, was more positive about the proposed changes after reading the Technical Annex to the white paper.

He described most of the recommendations as “somewhat reasonable considering all of the relative gloom within the sector” and fears about number caps and removing the Graduate Route altogether.

He did also warn, however, that the new compliance measures might be too tough for smaller higher education providers who could lose their ability to recruit international students if a tiny number of their overseas students failed the BCA requirements.

Concern over levy

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said universities recognised public concerns about immigration, and many of the changes announced build on proposals UUK published in September.

She particularly welcomed “confirmation that the Graduate Route will remain in place with some minor changes” and added: “It will help preserve an internationally competitive offer to international students”.

Her major concern was over the government’s proposed “levy on international student fees”.

The white paper says the revenue raised from the levy would be reinvested in “higher education and skills”.

Dr Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George’s, University of London, and a former government adviser on higher education policy, told University World News that the proposed levy – details of which will be revealed in the autumn – “was the clearest sign yet for the sector of what's to come in terms of the reforms that the government expects to see from universities; it's a kind of quid pro quo”.

Beech said: “The government left the graduate visa there to maintain international student income for universities; in return, they expect universities to salami-slice some of the revenue to give back to the wider education and skills sector.

“This could be seen as a positive development if it's used for social mobility purposes; for example, to fund widening participation and access efforts domestically to ensure more people from disadvantaged backgrounds get to [access] higher education.

“But it could be a disaster if the money is lost to the higher education sector or just goes into the Treasury black hole.”

Genuine students

International education expert Vincenzo Raimo, who held senior roles at both the universities of Reading and Nottingham, told University World News: “We need to be measured and strategic in how we respond to the immigration white paper, both within the UK and in our international communications.

“Domestically, we must recognise the complexities of the immigration debate and support government efforts to safeguard the integrity of the student visa route. That includes ensuring we are attracting genuine students who are academically and financially prepared for study in the UK.”

He added: “It also means acknowledging the challenges that emerged during the post-COVID surge in international enrolments, including higher rates of non-progression and cases where the student visa was exploited as a proxy immigration or asylum route.

“One agent once told me that the student visa route, despite upfront tuition payments, was ‘cheaper and less risky than paying a people smuggler’. That’s a stark illustration of the vulnerabilities in the system, and it is right that government takes steps to address them.

“But it’s equally important that we champion the value that genuine international students bring to our universities, our communities, and our economy.

“We should push back firmly on the proposed international student levy. There is already a levy, one that benefits the whole of UK higher education because international students already subsidise teaching and research for domestic students.”

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