It isn't enough to celebrate and talk about the benefits, we need to stand up to policy debates and the ethos that underpinned them

The UK international educator sector has reacted to the Home Office's announcement on legal migration restrictions, including its review of the Graduate Route visa.

The UK will review the Graduate Route to "prevent abuse" and protect the integrity and quality of the UK's outstanding higher education sector, the home secretary has said.

The UK shadow minister for higher education has spoken out against negative government rhetoric surrounding the country's international students, as Graduate Route supporters brace for a "period of risk".

UK stakeholders have welcomed the country's new home secretary, James Cleverly, who took up the role after a cabinet reshuffle.

A UK government-backed scholarship awardee has called for more opportunities for students from "modest backgrounds" to experience life in the UK.

Stakeholders have questioned whether VFS Global should have such a “monopoly” on the visa appointments system, as students struggle to get them amid a scam being run on the ground in various countries. 

Close to 500,000 sponsored UK study visas were granted to main applicants in the year to June 2023, equivalent to a year-on-year rise of 23%.