Chair: Daniel Zeichner MP
Panellists:
- Professor Brian Bell, Chair, Migration Advisory Committee
- Sanam Arora, Founder and Chair, National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU)
- James Tanna, Programme Officer, CBM UK (currently on the Graduate route)
- Lily Rumsey, Director of Global Engagement, Loughborough University
Professor Brian Bell outlined that the Graduate route had a collection of objectives set out in the International Education Strategy (IES). The commissioning letter from the Home Secretary had reaffirmed those objectives. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) had found that the Graduate route did achieve the objectives set out in the IES and did not cause harm to the UK economy as had been suggested.
He highlighted that work needs to be done around the use of agents as they did not have the same incentives as the rest of the sector and voluntary registration schemes did not always work. It was for this reason the MAC recommended universities should be required to publish information about their use of agents and how many students they are recruiting using agents.
On the government response, Professor Bell expected the government would make a decision on any action it was taking by the upcoming publication of net migration statistics. He pointed out that the Graduate route was not compelling based on labour market needs (but this had not been one of the objectives set out for it) and, by nature of it being an unsponsored route, there would be no way put restrictions on types of work or salary.
On the idea of “best and brightest”, which is present in the IES and the Home Secretary’s commissioning letter, Professor Bell said that no minister has been able to give a definition. He explained the nearest people get is saying the top 200 universities in the world, but that was regressive due to the link with wealth. Without a concrete definition of “best and brightest”, it wasn’t entirely clear what the government would do next.
Sanam Arora explained that she formed NISAU in 2012 around the time the previous post-study work visa had been taken away. She referred to the government clamp down on 'bogus colleges’ in which a thousand universities and colleges lost Tier 4 status overnight and, while a necessary move, no thought had been given to students caught up that had invested in their future.
NISAU was founded to provide welfare support for students, particularly those who had endured traumatic experiences and found themselves unable to access support offered to British citizens. She added that welfare remained core to NISAUs mission to this day’s mission to this day. Sanam explained that NISAU engaged in lobbying and advocacy, including on bringing the post-study work visa back, and hosted celebratory events recognising the contributions and global impact of the UK's Indian alumni including the annual prestigious Achievers Honours programme started in 2023.
Sanam stressed the transformation of futures possible via higher education and said as a country the UK did not understand the value of its universities and international students. She highlighted that, despite the key role they play, universities did not come up as a source of soft power in public polling. Sanam expressed concern about the mis-selling of UK higher education abroad and welcomed the MAC’s recommendations on agents. She highlighted that sub-agents could be a real problem as anyone could act as one and make commission.
Finally, Sanam appealed to universities to provide more support to their international students by increasing mentoring and career services.
James Tanna highlighted that, in addition to arguments around economic impact, international students and graduates like himself could provide huge social and cultural value to those in the UK and contribute to their communities.
He talked through his own experience as an international student, completing his undergraduate studies in his home country Australia and working abroad in developing countries before deciding to pursue a Master’s in international development. He chose the UK due to its prestige in the field of development studies and a competitive post-study visa option compared to other countries like the US. After graduating, he was able to transition to the Graduate visa and secure a job at CBM, an NGO working to transform the lives of people with disabilities, their families and communities in the poorest places of the world.
James explained that this would not have been possible without the flexibility and freedom of the Graduate route. Work in the charity sector was relatively low paid and charities were unable to provide visa sponsorship, so other visa routes with minimum income requirements would not have allowed him to pursue this path. The Graduate route had also given him time to search for jobs and find the right fit, with the possibility to work a lower-paid job for financial support while job-hunting. Other people he knew on the Graduate route had similar experiences, for example a friend working in a state school in an area with high levels of deprivation would not have been able to undertake this important work on another visa.
In response to the recent changes in visa rules for dependants, James spoke of how many families he had met during his studies and what a loss it will be for universities, with the ability to bring family central to many international postgraduate students’ decisions to study in the UK.
Lily Rumsey spoke about how she has been working on the attractiveness of the UK and its perception on the world stage for a long time. She perceived a dichotomy of presenting the UK as an amazing and welcoming nation and the reality of recent rhetoric and policies. Speaking on Sanam’s contribution, she noted that in Loughborough there was a 35% drop in Indian students after the previous removal of the post-study work visa.
Loughborough’s response to the recent challenges had been considering how to create a counter narrative to the current government narrative. Lily highlighted Loughborough’s “The world can’t wait: Neither should you” campaign alongside other communications work such as a blog from their Vice-Chancellor about recognising the value of international students and emailing students to stress the Graduate route remains open.
Lily reflected on the difficult financial situation and implications of threats to international student recruitment. All financial models had been reforecast based on the softening of key markets, removal of dependants visa and the potential removal of the Graduate route. They were now monitoring the conversion pipeline closer, reevaluating tuition fee levels and pushing marketing and advocacy campaigns. Loughborough University had started to focus on the employability journey for students and promoting other routes like the innovator route. She stressed that international educators were doing all they could do to counter the negative narrative.