After foreign registrations fell sharply for the upcoming academic year, a government-commissioned report released on Tuesday warned Britain against further lowering the number of international students or risking the collapse of several universities.
For an extended period, the political debate in Britain has been dominated by high levels of legal migration, which served as a primary catalyst for the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has worked to cut back on care workers and low-paid employees as well as the amount of students entering the country by prohibiting certain post-graduate students from bringing family members.
The number of foreign postgraduate students paying deposits to study at British universities in September decreased by 63% from the previous year, according to the Migration Advisory Committee, an independent body that provides advice to the government. This decline was caused by the government placing restrictions on education visas.
The study issued a warning, citing the possibility “that some institutions would fail” in addition to job losses and course closures in the event that the so-called graduate route—which permits international students to work in Britain for up to two years after graduation—was further restricted.
Britain is home to some of the world’s most renowned and coveted universities, including Imperial College London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Given that a large number of international leaders attended British universities, business leaders contend that they foster innovation, stimulate creativity, and offer a type of soft power.
The review was commissioned by the government due to concerns regarding the potential exploitation of the graduate visa route. Politicians in the UK have voiced concerns about students obtaining visas and then claiming asylum or overstaying their visas.
One of Sunak’s cabinet ministers, Esther McVey, claimed on Monday that certain British colleges were “selling immigration to international students rather than education”.
According to a Sunak official, the government will review the findings and take appropriate action. However, the spokesman drew attention to the scheme’s shortcomings, noting out that over 40% of overseas students who took this route were either unemployed or made less than 15,000 pounds ($18,834) per year after graduation.
The Migration Advisory Committee concluded that there was no proof of pervasive mistreatment pertaining to the graduate route in particular. Seventy percent of graduate visas are issued to students from four countries: China, Pakistan, Nigeria, and India.
As the Migration Advisory Committee stated that the system was not being exploited, the British business lobby organization, the CBI, claimed that British universities were among the nation’s greatest export successes and that “it’s time to put its future beyond doubt and end this period of damaging speculation.”
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