Graduate visa changes ‘would make university closures likelier’

Tightening UK post-study work rights would jeopardise the beginnings of a recovery in international student numbers and further destabilise university finances, sector leaders have warned.

Less than a year after the UK’s graduate visa was spared amid intense political pressure, ministers intent on bringing down immigration are reportedly looking again at making it harder to stay in the country post-graduation, a move that would almost certainly lead to another steep drop in overseas student numbers.

According to The Times, an immigration white paper – expected to be published imminently – will propose that students from overseas must find a “graduate level” job to qualify for the visa, which entitles students below PhD level to stay for two years.

While the accuracy of the report has not been verified, protecting current post-study arrangements has long been seen as a the priority for the sector in coming government interventions, with the long term future of the visa far from certain.

The Times did not define how a graduate job would be defined but suggested it could involve a salary threshold or other conditions placed on the visa – which currently allows anyone completing a course to stay regardless of job status. This risks “creating complexity and uncertainty which will play badly into an already challenging market for international students”, said Graham Gailbraith, vice-chancellor at the University of Portsmouth.

Enrolments from overseas have slowly begun to increase again after steep drops last year and the UK is expected to benefit from restrictions being introduced elsewhere but more changes – or even the perception that things might be about to change – will jeopardise this recovery, warned Galbraith.

"With several well-publicised cases of large institutions struggling with financial instability hitting the headlines in recent weeks, university leaders and the government should be viewing these proposals with alarm,” he added.

“Even a small reduction in overseas recruitment could have a substantial impact on the ability of these institutions to manage their budgets, making the likelihood of job losses and institutional closures even more likely.”

The proposed move from Labour comes less than a year after the former Conservative government accepted its Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation that the visa remain unchanged.

Vanessa Wilson, chief executive of the mission group University Alliance, pointed out that graduates on the visa can’t claim benefits, and in order to study in the UK they have to contribute hefty health surcharges to the NHS.

Any visa changes that could impact international students would need to be “very carefully considered”, Wilson added, as “hasty decisions could deal a debilitating blow to business, the economy and the university sector”.

Figures obtained for the MAC’s rapid review of the visa showed that 68 per cent of people on the graduate route were registered as taxpayers and worked for at least a month in the first year of their visa. The proportion earning less than £2,000 a month was 63 per cent although this had dropped to 38 per cent by their last month on the visa.

Steve West, vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England, said the graduate visa route was seen as a “soft option” for governments that had “lost control” of other means of controlling immigration.

While there was a need to “clamp down on any obvious abuse of the education visa route”, he added, the proposal appeared to be “another blunt hammer blow” that would do little to stabilise the sector.

Attempts to define a graduate-level job should recognise the difficulties finding work in the current jobs market, he added, and the fact that many accept roles for which they are overqualified.

Indian students accounted for 40 per cent of graduate visa applicants last year and the prospect of gaining meaningful work experience after studies “is the single most important determinant…in deciding where to study”, said Sanam Arora, chair of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union, who agreed that even proposing such a measure sent a “damaging message”.

“British policy doesn’t take place in a global vacuum and it’s vital the UK doesn’t take international students for granted,” said Ruth Arnold, executive director of external affairs at Study Group, who cofounded the #WeAreInternational campaign.

“International students calculating how to cover the costs of study need a secure and welcoming graduate work policy which gives them time to gain international experience even at a starter level.

“Any hint of instability which threatens to sever the link between a degree and a guaranteed period of graduate work puts that at severe risk.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com