Cross-party support for foreign students

But will it persuade the coalition government to remove students from inclusion in the net migration target?

A debate held in the Commons yesterday has revealed cross-party support for counting foreign students separately so they are not included in the government’s net migration targets. MPs from the three main parties lamented the effect that the government’s policy of restricting immigration has had on universities. David Willetts, the universities and science minister, highlighted the creation of the Education UK Unit to support the provision of education to foreign students.

The Times (£) reports that Willie Young, who is standing for Labour in the forthcoming Abderdeen Donside Holyrood by-election, has said that those undergraduates who can afford to pay for university tuition should pay.