Leaning tower of visas

The UK’s visa offer to both students and researchers looks increasingly weak

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the funding of UK higher education is currently heavily reliant on the recruitment of overseas students. And this is no bad thing, really—although an overreliance on a single income stream is always a risk.

Internationally diverse campuses benefit the UK in innumerable ways—from the ‘soft power’ accrued overseas by hosting students from the four corners of the globe, to the local and national economic benefits that result from their presence. It’s no coincidence that—thankfully—international students have not yet been drawn into the all-engulfing anti-university culture wars.