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The UK government has been strongly advised not to further restrict student immigration by abolishing the graduate visa scheme.
A report from the independent Migration Advisory Commission also warned that cuts to foreign student numbers would put universities in “significant financial difficulty” and could cause some to “fail.” ”.
Their recommendations come after an urgent review of the “graduate visa route” policy commissioned by Home Secretary James Cleverly amid concerns that it was being used as a a backdoor for immigration.
However, the MAC report published on Tuesday morning found there was “no evidence” of any deliberate and widespread abuse of the postgraduate pathway, which allows students expatriates spend two years working in the UK after graduation.
“After reviewing the evidence, our conclusion is clear. The graduate pathway has generally achieved and continues to achieve the targets set by this government. Therefore, we recommend that this route remain in its current form,” the report said.
MAC continues to warn that placing further restrictions on graduate pathways – on top of the recent ban on international students bringing family members – will lead to job losses, course closures and cuts in research, as well as the risk that “some universities will fail”.
Any policy changes to reduce student numbers need to explain “how the financial consequences for the sector will be addressed”, the committee stressed.
MAC’s findings will come as a relief to industry and the higher education sector, which has been struggling. vigorous movement demanded that Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservative party not scrap the plan despite pressure from the party’s right wing to do so.
Although no deliberate abuse of the system was found, MAC raised concerns about the use of recruitment agents by university and asked the government to consider introducing “mandatory requirements” for employers to ensure good practice.
Cleverly commissioned the review after applications to lower-ranked universities more than doubled between 2018 and 2020, leading to concerns that graduate visas no longer served their intended purpose aims to “attract the best and brightest to the UK”.
The report acknowledges that the rise in visa applications to lower-tariff, non-Russell Group universities may indicate lower student quality, but it points out that the government is not making definition of “best and brightest”.
MAC found that government policies to reduce migration introduced this year, including removing the right of most foreign graduates to bring their dependents, had had an impact. negative impact on international recruitment.
MAC estimates that the dependent cut will automatically reduce graduate visas by 30,000 per year but says there is evidence that the policy is discouraging applications, especially from graduate students. postgraduate student.
Figures from Enroly included in the report, based on a representative sample of 24 universities, showed that the number of international students paying deposits to study in the UK in May fell by 57% from a year earlier.
“Any additional restrictions on the Postgraduate route are likely to exacerbate the decline in international student numbers,” it added.
In 2019, the government’s International Education Strategy set an ambition to attract 600,000 international students a year, a target that has now been achieved, contributing to a sector worth £37 billion a year to the economy. international. British economyaccording to consulting firm London Economics.
MAC said any further tightening of the graduate visa pathway would mean the government “will likely fail” to achieve the target set by its policy.
However, Sunak is under pressure to further limit legal immigration after hitting a record 606,000 last year, leading to a series of measures to reduce visa pathways, including increasing key salary thresholds for skilled migrant visas from £26,200 to £38,700.
Last week Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister who quit Sunak’s government in December and is now considered a likely candidate to be the next Conservative leader, issued a report to the The conservative Center for Policy Studies think tank calls for abolishing the graduate student visa pathway. .
The report calls for the abolition of graduate visas and the imposition of a hard cap on international student numbers. The agency recommends any foreign student wanting to stay in the UK must find a postgraduate job paying £38,700 within six months.
A senior government insider said there was a “fierce debate” within the cabinet over whether the graduate route should be abolished. Education secretary Gillian Keegan is understood to be in favor of retaining it. “She is on record saying what a huge benefit international students are to the wider economy and to the country,” said one Keegan ally.
While the MAC report has clear conclusions, it is only an advisory body whose recommendations the previous government has refused to follow.
Universities lobby groups, including Universities UK, MillionPlus and the Universities Union, welcomed the MAC’s recommendation not to scrap the route, as well as the finding that graduates who stay to work in the UK make a net contribution to the economy.
UUK chief executive Vivienne Stern said she hoped the government would listen to MAC’s advice and quickly make it clear that the graduate route is “here to stay” to bring stability to the industry.
