Universities Say Government Should Give “Ringing Endorsement” To Graduate Visas
File photo of university graduates (Alamy)
5 min read
The new government should give a “ringing endorsement” to the graduate visa route as part of its efforts to stabilise universities’ finances, according to the president of Universities UK (UUK).
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone ramped up pressure on Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, as universities scramble to fill vacancies amid fears international student numbers could drop following a change in visa rules.
In an interview with PoliticsHome Mapstone welcomed a “much more positive and constructive approach” from the new administration and said previous administrations had “talk[ed] down” to the sector.
But she called for more explicit support for visa rules that could attract international students to the UK as well for research funding. UUK is also lobbying for tuition fees paid by domestic students to rise in line with inflation. The real term value has fallen dramatically in recent years as a result of a freeze on domestic fees at a time of high inflation.
Among the things Mapstone - who is also the Vice Chancellor at the University of St Andrews - said that she would like to see from the government is a “ringing endorsement” for the graduate visa route which supports international students, and engagement on research funding to help universities “nurture” their research culture.
"I hope that we would see an even clearer and more positive exposition of the importance of support for international students including a really ringing endorsement of the value of the graduate visa route which is such an important way of encouraging international students both to come and study in the UK and then to give something back afterwards," she said.
The graduate visa allows people who have studied a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course to stay in the UK for at least two years after their studies.
Towards the end of the last Conservative government, former prime minister Rishi Sunak was reported to be considering scrapping the graduate visa route altogether in a bid to drive down overall net migration figures. However, the idea was thought to have been opposed by a number of his cabinet colleagues.
It came after changes to international student visas made in January of this year, which means that now only those on postgraduate research courses and courses with government-funded scholarships are able to bring family with them to the UK.
Speaking at an education conference last month, Phillipson said that “international students will always be welcome in this country”.
“We will do everything we can to help them succeed.
“That’s why we offer the opportunity to remain in the UK on a graduate visa for two years after their studies end – or three for PhDs – to work, to live, and to contribute,” she said.
Mapstone would also like there to be “progress on the long term financial sustainability of universities in dialogue.”
“I think it’s important for the government before it takes any steps really to understand the sorts of things in the short term and the medium term that might make a real difference to the financial viability of the sector,” she said.
She also said that the sector is experiencing a much more positive and constructive approach to universities” with the new government.
“The view of universities is that they’re a national asset with great potential to speak to the growth agenda,” she said.
“Some of that was there in the previous government, but there was also obviously a great deal of talking down universities as opposed to talking them up, and it’s a relief to see that we seem to have moved on from that approach.”
Students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received exam results yesterday for A-Levels, BTECs and T-Levels.
The new academic year will begin in the next few weeks amid fears of a financial crisis at some institutions.
Earlier in the summer, PoliticsHome reported that universities could be facing “big trouble” financially “really fast” if fees from international students “collapse”.
Phillipson told Radio 4’s Today Programme on Thursday morning she is “looking very carefully” at what the options for reform to the sector could look like.
She told the BBC: “We’ve ended up in a terrible mess where it comes to our universities.
"The approach that the last government took not just in terms of the funding challenges and kicking the can down the road but the fact they spent so much time bashing universities rather than recognising the public good that they are.”
Pushed further on what help could be provided to institutions that are struggling financially, she went on: “I’m looking very carefully at what the options for reform will be. I am clear that we need to see reform of the system.
“I do recognise that it isn’t working, but I want to take the time to get that right. I hear loud and clear from the sector that they want to work with us to deliver a much better and fairer system overall.”
Yesterday, former Conservative education secretary Gillian Keegan told the Political Currency podcast that she thinks the fee cap is “right where it is”.
Keegan, who lost her seat at the General Election said it is the “value that students think it offers them.”
“Once it's clear that you get a much bigger return on investment than not, then maybe you can have that discussion about the value of the fees. But the value should be now based on the product,” she added.
Keegan, who served as education secretary from October 2022 until the election said that the sector is “getting a lot of practical business support”.
“They are businesses, some of them are not brilliantly run businesses,” she said.
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