The Westminster government should consider exempting international applicants hoping to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) master’s degrees from its ban on dependants accompanying students, according to peers.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee warns in a letter to key ministers that the UK’s high visa and healthcare costs are deterring talented researchers from coming to the UK and, as such, are “an act of national self-harm”.
The peers’ letter, sent to home secretary Yvette Cooper, chancellor Rachel Reeves and science minister Patrick Vallance, warns that upfront costs faced by applicants for UK visas are higher than any comparable country, and have increased 58 per cent since 2021, according to analysis by the Royal Society and law firm Fragomen.
In particular, the need to pay the immigration health surcharge before arriving in the UK means that a single researcher faces upfront costs of about £6,000 – against a typical salary of £36,000 for a postdoctoral researcher – while for a family of four, the upfront cost nears £21,000.
“The UK’s visa and immigration policy needs to adapt to recognise that we are in a global competition for talent in science and technology…for too many researchers the high upfront visa and health surcharge costs and inflexibilities of the process are acting as a deterrent,” writes the committee chair, Julia King, the former Aston University vice-chancellor who sits in the Lords as Baroness Brown of Cambridge.
“In an increasingly mobile world, and with growing salary gaps between the UK and competing nations such as the US, we are at risk of falling behind in the global race for talent in these critical areas.”
The letter says that ministers should review the “high upfront burden” of visa fees, and must consider allowing payment of the immigration health surcharge in instalments, including through deductions from pay cheques.
It also raises concerns about the impact of the former Conservative government’s ban on international students, apart from PhD researchers, bringing dependants with them to the UK, which has been blamed for a significant decline in universities’ overseas recruitment.
An evidence session held by the committee heard that this was undermining the cross-subsidising of research with international tuition fees, with Cranfield University vice-chancellor Karen Holford telling peers that she had faced a 47 per cent decline in overseas postgraduate taught recruitment over two years.
In their letter, the peers warn that the dependants ban has had a “disproportionate impact” on universities with a high proportion of STEM subjects, which tend to have the biggest teaching and research costs.
“If the government’s intention is to reduce the overall numbers of international students as part of reducing net migration, it should mitigate any negative impacts on science, research and universities from these policies,” King writes.
“The government should review its dependants ban and consider whether granting exemptions would result in a net benefit for the UK.”
The letter also expresses concerns that too many researchers “fall through the gaps” between the Skilled Worker visa route and the “highly selective” Global Talent visa, and says ministers should clarify the rules, expand the eligibility of existing offers or consider “introducing a new route for high-potential individuals and postdoctoral researchers at an early stage in their careers”.
