Image: Number 10 [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr
Education secretary moves to reassure sector on overseas recruitment
There should be “no doubt” that international students are welcome in the UK, the education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said, signalling a shift from the rhetoric and policy of the Conservative government.
In a speech at the Embassy Education Conference on 23 July, Phillipson said she wanted to “set the record straight on international students” after what she called mixed messaging from previous governments.
Earlier this year, the then Conservative government said it would retain the graduate route visa in its current form, but that the system was “under review”. It also announced plans to make it more challenging for universities to sponsor visas and to crack down on international student recruitment agents.
In January, new legislation prevented most students from bringing dependants with them to the UK, resulting in a big fall in applications from overseas. While the new government has not made any commitment to undoing the restrictions currently in place, Phillipson’s speech appears to have poured cold water on any further tightening of the rules.
‘Political footballs’
“For too long, international students have been treated as political footballs, not valued guests—their fees welcomed but their presence resented; exploited for cheap headlines, not cherished for all they bring to our communities,” the education secretary said. “This government will take a different approach… be in no doubt: international students are welcome in the UK.”
Phillipson said she wanted to put education “at the forefront of national life”, adding that universities are “a public good, not a political battleground”.
“These people are brave,” she said of students who choose to study outside their home nation. “They move to a new culture, far away from their homes and their families. They take a leap of faith, hoping to develop new skills and chase new horizons, and I am enormously proud that so many want to take that leap here in the UK.”
She said the new government would do “everything we can to help them succeed”.
Support for the graduate route
“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,” Phillipson added, in words that will be welcomed by sector leaders wanting signals of Labour support for the graduate route.
“While this government is committed to managing migration carefully, international students will always be welcome in this country,” she said. “The UK wouldn’t be the same without them.”
Phillipson said the government would look to build stronger “education partnerships” with countries around the world, to allow universities to “deliver courses across borders”.
“Education must be at the forefront of tackling the major global challenges of our time,” she said. “Artificial intelligence, climate change, poverty, misinformation, polarisation, war and instability… Education puts us on the path to freedom.”