The White Paper recognises the economic and educational benefits international students bring to the UK, while setting out reforms to strengthen standards and address misuse of the student and graduate visa routes. It states that recent years have seen a sharp rise in student visas, dependants, and graduates remaining in the UK, alongside concerns about visa misuse, asylum claims linked to expiring student visas, and graduates working below degree-level roles.
Key proposals include:
- Strengthening the Short-Term Study (English Language) route by reviewing accreditation bodies, tightening checks on applicants, and removing non-compliant providers.
- Reducing the Graduate visa period from two years (three for PhDs) to 18 months, with a focus on graduates entering graduate-level jobs.
- Exploring a levy on higher education provider income from international students, to be reinvested into the UK’s higher education and skills system.
- Raising sponsor standards by tightening Basic Compliance Assessment thresholds, introducing Red-Amber-Green ratings, action plans with recruitment limits for poor performers, and requiring institutions using agents to sign up to the Agent Quality Framework.
- Requiring universities to consider local impacts, such as teaching capacity and accommodation, before expanding international recruitment.