Government to cut one quarter of a million student visas

Plans by the Home Secretary to curb overseas student numbers will result in nearly a quarter of a million fewer student visas being issued over the next five years in addition to costing the economy roughly £2 billion, the latest Home Office estimates show.

The Home Office statement, released on June 13, states that: “We expect our new student visas policies to lead to a net reduction of around 230,000 student migrants over the full term of this parliament, from 2011 to 2015”. This is an average cut of 52,000 student visas a year and it is expected to make a significant contribution to the government’s ambitious goal of reducing net migration to “tens of thousands” each year.

Curiously, this estimate represents a considerable reduction on the original target, announced by Teresa May in March, which aimed to curb student migration by 80,000 a year. It is thought to have been reduced because of the widespread criticism of its impact on the education sector and wider economy that it received at the time. However, even with the revised target, there are still worries. The main issue is that the current plan could potentially cost the government £2.4 billion more than it will save, as the restrictions themselves will cost £3.2 billion – due to the reduced number of students working in the country either during or after their course, as well as the loss of £170 million in university fees – and will be offset by savings of only £1.1 billion.

Warwick is the fourth largest recruiter of international students after Manchester, Nottingham and UCL, with its international community comprising 25 per cent of the total number of students. Nevertheless the University’s official response is that the visa crackdown “is targeting bogus students at bogus colleges, not the brightest and the best students. Therefore it is much more likely that this will affect private colleges and language schools rather than the top universities such as Warwick”.

However, Sarina Amin, an international student from India who is hoping to study at Warwick next year says that “it’s rubbish” because “it’s already difficult enough to go through the process” and if the chances of one’s visa being rejected are higher it will “definitely deter a lot of people” from applying.

Professor Wyn Grant of the Economics Department points out that overseas students “make our universities more vibrant and cosmopolitan” as well as being “an important earner for the UK economy”. Professor Mark Harrison, also of the Economics Department, agrees, saying that in fact Warwick “will feel some concern because we will be competing for international students within a smaller pool”.

He goes on to suggest that the visa crackdown fails to address the fundamental problem linked to migration, which is that societies find it difficult to reach a consensus “over the terms on which we are willing to live alongside large numbers of new immigrants”. However, it may take a considerable amount of time until this issue is solved.