With a plan to significantly alter the new Graduate Visa Route, British Home Office Secretary Suella Braverman, who has made headlines for her numerous immigration campaigns such as Stop the Boats, extended her whip in October 2022 to international students studying in the UK.
Under Braverman’s proposed review, the duration of the new Graduate Visa route, which gives foreign graduates the opportunity to stay in the country to look for employment and gain experience for up to two years without the need for a formal job offer, is anticipated to be reduced to six months. If she is successful in enacting her plan, international students will either need to leave the UK after six months or earn a work visa by finding a qualified job. This would, however, not apply to people who had earned degrees in highly sought-after fields like engineering, according to The Times.
Braverman has been steadfast in her objective to reduce immigration to the UK since being appointed in Q4 2022. According to the Daily Mail, the Home Office Secretary wants to cut the number of foreign workers without skills entering the country from 239,000 to only ‘tens of thousands. A home office source further gave The Times an explanation behind Braverman’s proposal. According to the person, Graduate Visa was being utilised more and more by students doing short courses at “less respectable universities” as a backdoor immigration route.
As could be expected, the proposal, which has now been made public, has managed to sustain a current discourse of opposition among a number of international student communities, academics, and even a few UK politicians who perceive the plans as aggressive. A political psychology student from one of the top UK universities expressed her disapproval with the proposal. “I feel like a pawn” in the hands of the British government, she declared. She believes that the government is now looking for a way to drive people out because it has gained enough money and improved its economy thanks to the school fees paid by international students.
“One of the biggest draws to study in the UK is the graduate route visa, especially because everyone is aware of how competitive the market is.” an Iranian student in the UK further remarked. The student added that given that the tuition fee and cost of living in the UK are relatively costly in contrast to other European countries, studying here wouldn’t have been an option had this idea been made public earlier.
Academics haven’t kept quiet about this either. According to the Daily Mail, university administrators think Braverman’s proposal sends the impression “that the UK is unwelcoming and hostile to international students,” who contribute £25.9 billion annually to the UK economy in the form of tuition and other spending. Also, it was claimed that Gillian Keegan, the secretary of education, disagreed with the Home Office’s proposal to limit foreign students. According to The Guardian, she stated that Britain “should be very proud of” the university system.
The Graduate route became available on July 1, 2021 as part of efforts by the UK to entice “the world’s brightest talents, who aspire to a career at the highest levels of business, science, the arts and technology to see our United Kingdom as the natural place to fulfil their aspirations” according to Kevin Foster, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration. Many foreign students have been drawn to the UK because of this, and for good reason. Data indicate that as of 2021–2022, there were 679,970 international students studying in the UK, exceeding the target of 600,000 set for that year.
GREAT’s ‘Study UK’ Might be Threatened.
The UK is being marketed as the top study destination for international students and their influencers through the global ‘Study UK’ campaign, which was launched in 2016. It is the only national-level campaign that highlights the exceptional higher education options available in the country as well as the chances it presents for transforming one’s life. This initiative is led and delivered by the British Council in partnership with the UK government’s GREAT Britain campaign.
Since its inception, the campaign has been highly successful. For instance, according to a press release from the cabinet office, the Study UK campaign resulted in a 40% rise in the number of overseas students enrolling at Teesside University for the 2020–21 academic year from markets where GREAT scholarships were provided. The press announcement also said that GREAT’s “Study UK” campaign is expected to bring in £407 million from foreign students who are registered in 2021/22, adding to its accomplishment.
While we cannot definitively attribute this campaign’s success to the Graduate Visa Route, its effects are undeniable. A foreign student said: “I probably wouldn’t have come here if Braverman’s plan was pushed before my arrival considering that many other developed countries offer tremendous prospects for international students, post-graduation”. This becomes even more plausible when we consider that the majority of Britain’s main competitors, such as Germany, Australia, etc., provide two-year Graduate Visas or more.
No doubt, securing the UK border is a legitimate concern, but if Braverman’s plan isn’t carefully considered, it might hurt the UK’s economy and reputation in the long run. Poor student experiences also run the danger of harming the UK’s soft power. In a UK.GOV press statement, Maddalaine Ansell, Director of Education, British Council, stated that “International students not only make our universities vibrant and cosmopolitan but also, through getting to know and understand us, can become lifelong ambassadors for not only UK Education but our values and way of life”. She also added that “Many international graduates go on to play important roles in the political, economic, scientific and cultural life of their own countries and their knowledge of, and affection for, the UK means we have friends in many places.”
If students are made to leave, maintaining this bond may prove to be an impossible task in the long run. Universities may also suffer as international students pay nearly twice as much as domestic students.
It will be very beneficial for the Home Secretary to reflect carefully on her decision in light of the UK’s reputation both now and in the future, as the situation develops.
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