Immigration Minister James Brokenshire rebutted claims last week that the government is not doing enough to help the UK’s international education sector, using his address during a Student Visas conference to note that international student numbers are not in freefall, and any suggestion that they are damages the sector.
He pointed to HESA stats that indicate any slight decline in non-EU students is part of a wider decline across all geographic groups, and observed that Russell Group applications are up while those to FE colleges are down.
“This hardly reflects the false picture that is being painted of plummeting numbers of non-EU university students. And, this fiction is damaging – to the education sector and to the UK,” he told delegates, representing many HE and embassy stakeholders.
He continued in combative form: “This government’s approach strikes the right balance between attracting the brightest and best, and preventing abuse of the student visa route.”
Brokenshire justified the new 10% rule by explaining, “We are trying to ensure that [institutions] do their bit” and he rounded on those hoping for more generous Post-Study Work rights by calling the previous two year allowance “too generous”.
On the familiar clash point of net migration, the minister stood firm yet again, observing that the students should count as migrants as they “have an impact on our communities and public services”.
But there were seeds of discontent scattered throughout the rest of the day from those who didn’t share Brokenshire’s defensive position.
Vivienne Stern, Director of the UK HE International Unit, said that while Sino-British relations were flourishing given strong Chinese enrolments into the UK, this masked a danger of over-reliance and lack of diversity in a new cautious enrolment era.
“Sponsors could become more risk-averse in opening up new markets”
Current and former international students of Regent’s University – the joint host of the event – explained how difficult and arduous it had been to obtain a visa to do an internship or in one case to remain in the country.
A Belarussian student who has used the graduate entrepreneur route to remain in the country explained that she had won an appeal against the Home Office, but still endured suspicion each time she returned to the UK. “It is not a friendly process,” as she politely put it.
Kathryn Bradbury of law firm Gherson raised concerns about the removal of the right to appeal a visa decision. Since October 20, the only process now available to those declined a visa is an administrative review.
“An administrative review is not an appropriate forum for more subjective decisions,” she warned.
Bradbury also signalled that the new legal landscape meant that the highest form of appeal – a judicial review – might become more common, and with that an increased strain on the public purse.
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, also sounded a note of caution over the “reintroduction of discretion” in immigration decisions via the interview process, but said his report for the government on this topic is forthcoming.
Jo Attwooll, Programme Manager at Universities UK, responded to a concern raised by Study UK about the new 10% rule and the danger faced by smaller institutions who might recruit 60 Tier 4 visa students and risk their licence revocation if 7 students are refused a visa for reasons beyond their control.
“Sponsors could become more risk-averse in opening up new markets,” she warned, “and in the long-term that could be a real detriment to international education in the UK.”
Keith Vaz MP was representing the Home Affairs Select Committee which jointly organised the event and he gave attendees some cheer when he reported that everything said at the event would be used as evidence in a forthcoming Home Affairs Committee report. “If we don’t shape the debate then others will do it for us,” he said.
