Former government adviser says Home Office must not exploit review for political capital
The upcoming findings of a review of the UK’s graduate visa route must be considered without “pandering to popular politics”, a former adviser to the Department for Education has said.
In March, home secretary James Cleverly ordered the Migration Advisory Committee to conduct a “rapid review” of the graduate visa, which allows students to stay in the UK to work for two or three years, dependent on their course. Universities have expressed concern that the review, which will report by 14 May, is too hasty.
There are also concerns within higher education that the government is determined to further restrict access to the UK, having already cracked down on students who can access visas for dependants, and increased the NHS surcharge payable by those who come into the country.
Diana Beech, chief executive of London Higher and a former adviser to three universities ministers, said the policy changes were impacting “the confidence international students have in the UK”.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know how many of the ‘brightest and best’ have been deterred from applying to the UK as a result, but it is now clear the US has overtaken us as the top preferred study destination,” Beech said.
“We know the government had concerns about the amount of dependants entering the country, and this move has reduced them. We now see no reason why there should be any additional changes imposed to the graduate route, so we hope to see a positive recommendation from the MAC on this in a few weeks’ time. We also hope this will be considered fairly by government without pandering to popular politics.”
Dependant decline
On 30 April, provisional government statistics suggested there had been an 80 per cent year-on-year fall in student-dependant applications in the first quarter of 2024.
“This does not mark the end of the road in our plan to cut migration—there is more still to come,” said Cleverly. “Over the coming months, we will continue to show the pace of our progress as we deliver the control the public rightly expect.”
Earlier this year, a Universities UK analysis suggested that international student recruitment this January was down by 44 per cent on January 2023. Universities can charge international students higher fees, making them a vital source of alternative income for institutions in England that have been squeezed by a domestic tuition fee freeze.