The House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee has recommended a review of the dependants ban, urging the government to consider exemptions to benefit the UK’s ability to attract STEM talent.
In a letter to the home secretary, the committee called the current visa policy an “act of national self-harm” which “throws up barriers” to master’s and PhD students, young researchers, and early career science and technology experts to work and study in the UK.
“We have had longstanding concerns about the impact of the UK’s immigration system on its ability to attract STEM talent,” the letter continued, highlighting high up-front visa costs and the health surcharge as further deterrents.
The reduction of international student numbers caused by uncertainty over the Graduate Route and the ban on dependants of postgraduate taught master’s students has disproportionately impacted STEM subjects, argues the letter.
International students – who pay 43% of the UK’s tuition fees – cross-subsidise both domestic teaching and research, it states, with the squeeze in university finances felt most acutely in expensive areas of STEM teaching and research.
While acknowledging the government’s overall aim of reducing net migration, it calls on the home secretary to mitigate the impact on science and research and “consider whether granting exemptions [to the dependants ban] would result in a net benefit for the UK”.
Speaking to The PIE, the Home Office maintained that there were currently no plans for STEM exemptions to the dependants ban.
“We are grateful or the work skilled international professionals do in the UK. However, it is clear that we must end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth,” a spokesperson said.
It highlights that some UK universities are shouldering financial burdens of increased up-front visa costs – notably the health surcharge – for postdoctoral researchers whose annual salaries are around £36,000, far below competing nations such as the US.
According to Cranfield University vice-chancellor Dame Karen Holford, the decline in international students is threatening the “whole ecosystem” of research and teaching at her institution, with chemistry and physics departments at risk of closure, she told the Committee.
We have had longstanding concerns about the impact of the UK’s immigration system on its ability to attract STEM talent
Baroness Brown of Cambridge, House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
After UK study visa applications fell by 16% last year – most acutely among postgraduates – UUKi deputy director of policy & global engagement Harry Anderson warned that the decline would equate to losing over £1bn of tuition fee income, placing a “very significant strain” on the UK’s research abilities.
While the previous government’s negative rhetoric was widely criticised for damaging the UK’s international reputation, the Conservative party had vowed to work with the sector to explore “alternative options” to ensure the “brightest and best” could continue to bring dependants.
The Committee has urged Keir Starmer’s Labour government to do the same.
The letter precedes the release of the government’s 2025 Immigration White Paper, which will set out further plans to reduce legal migration and “restore order to the broken immigration system”, said a Home Office spokesperson.
The government’s new education plan is also expected to be published in April 2025.
Last month in Davos, Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised eyebrows in the sector when she said the government would look again at routes for “the highest skilled people”, particularly in the areas of AI and life sciences.
“Britain is open for business, we are open for talent, we’ve got some of the best universities, some of the best entrepreneurs in the world, but we also want to bring in global talent,” said Reeves.
However, the government’s newly formed Skills England is working closely with the Migration Advisory Committee to reduce the need for international recruitment and ensure businesses are recruiting primarily from the “homegrown” workforce, according to the Home Office.
Elsewhere, Labour is at pains to show itself being tough on immigration, this week becoming the first UK government to publish footage of deportation flights and immigration raids on illegal workers.
