Policies affecting international students are central to plans laid out by the main political parties in the lead up to the UK’s snap election on June 8. In their manifestos, each party has included proposals impacting immigration, post-study work and international student visas.
The main parties in the UK, with the exception of the Scottish National Party and the UK Independence Party, have recently released their manifestos, each underlining the importance of ensuring that the UK remains welcoming to international students.
The Conservatives have maintained the policy to keep international students in net migration figures, while Labour has promised to take them out. The Liberal Democrats meanwhile have pledged to bring back a pared down version of post-study work.
“Universities are committed to working with government to ensure that any visa abuse in the sector remains very low”
In their manifesto, the incumbent Conservatives say that Britain is an “open economy and a welcoming society”.
“We will always ensure that our British businesses can recruit the brightest and best from around the world and Britain’s world-class universities can attract international students,” it reads, but also promises to “toughen the visa requirements for students, to make sure that we maintain high standards”.
Meanwhile, current opposition leaders Labour, say the party “welcomes international students who benefit and strengthen our education sector, generating more than £25bn for the British economy and significantly boosting regional jobs and local businesses”.
The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto says they will “ensure the UK is an attractive destination for overseas students”.
Despite a shared welcoming attitude towards international students, the immigration policies each manifesto proposes will dictate the degree of openness the country achieves under each party.
On immigration, the Conservatives have maintained their contentious plan to keep international students in net migration figures while aiming to “reduce immigration to sustainable levels”, which means cutting net migration from the 273,000 to tens of thousands.
Conservative plans to toughen student visa requirements is concerning, Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs said.
“I don’t think anyone can say why that is either sensible or necessary,” he told The PIE News. “And one only hopes that this is merely election rhetoric and that better sense will prevail when and if in government.”
Care should be taken to make sure that the “talk of toughening the visa requirements for students” doesn’t deter those considering coming to study in the UK, said Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK.
“Universities are committed to working with government to ensure that any visa abuse in the sector remains very low,” she said. “And that there is improved and reliable data to identify the extent of any overstaying.”
Sally Hunt, general secretary at the University and College Union, which represents professional staff in the higher education and further education sectors, echoes that toughening visa rules will send out a negative message.
“Instead of pulling up the drawbridge, the next government needs to ensure that the UK remains an attractive destination for academics and students from around the world,” she said.
The next government “should start by immediately guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals currently working and studying here rather than using them as a bargaining chip in Brexit negotiations,” she argued.
Meanwhile, Labour says it will “develop and implement fair immigration rules,” and emphasises that in trade negotiations, the party’s priorities favour “growth, jobs and prosperity” over immigration targets.
“The next government needs to ensure that the UK remains an attractive destination for academics and students from around the world”
The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto refers specifically to students who overstay their visa and promises to “work with universities to ensure a fair and transparent student visa process and find ways to measure accurately the number of students leaving at the end of their course.”
Wales’s national party, Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, says it will create “Welsh-specific visas” which will be “necessary to plug skills gaps and to protect our health service from staff shortages”.
Policies split on post-study work right for international students, with only the Liberal Democrats promising to reintroduce the offer, albeit partially.
“We will reinstate post-study work visas for graduates in STEM subjects who find suitable employment within six months of graduating,” reads the party’s manifesto. The Liberal Democrats also plan to “give the devolved administrations the right to sponsor additional post-study work visas”.
On the other hand, the Conservatives, along with pledging tougher visa requirements for international students, have also promised higher requirements for those hoping to stay after they graduate.
“We will expect students to leave the country at the end of their course, unless they meet new, higher requirements that allow them to work in Britain after their studies have concluded,” the party’s manifesto says.
Taking international students out of the net migration figures has become a hotly debated topic in public discussions across UK politics. A recent amendment in the Higher Education and Research Bill called for their removal, however it was defeated in the House of Commons.
But, the main political parties have readdressed the issue in their manifestos.
“[International students] are not permanent residents and we will not include them in immigration numbers,” reads the Labour manifesto. “But we will crack down on fake colleges.”
“Recognising their largely temporary status, [we will] remove students from the official migration statistics,” the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto says.
Wales’s Plaid Cymru also argues that international students must be taken out of the net migration figures.
While other parties have promised to take international students out of net migration counts, Scott at UKCISA said it was “disappointing” but “not surprising” to see the reference in the [Conservative manifesto] “to students being ‘within the scope of the government’s policy to reduce annual net migration’.”
“After so much discussion and debate – most recently in the House of Lords – sticking with this continues to seem unnecessary and really damaging,” he commented.
The future of funding for European mobility and research is uncertain in the run up to Brexit negotiations, but both Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have pledged efforts to retain access to Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ programs.
The Green Party outlines its plan to “guarantee the rights of young people to study, work, live and travel in the EU, including through schemes like Erasmus,” the manifesto reads.
Last month, UK Prime Minister Theresa May called an early general election on June 8.
