According to news sources, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is thinking about limiting the amount of international students studying there in order to lower net migration.
According to a story in The Times newspaper, foreign students may not be permitted to pursue their education in the UK unless they have been accepted to a prestigious university. According to the same source, there will be limits on the number of dependents that foreign students may bring to the UK. This policy would also apply to foreign students who are not currently residing in the country.
Cutting the number of overseas students would go against the government’s plan to revive the economy, according to Universities UK, the group that represents universities throughout the nation.
“International students are the source of about 70% of our education export revenues and contribute a net positive of at least £26 billion annually to the UK economy. They support employment in cities and villages around the nation. They also have a significant positive impact on college campuses, according to Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive of Universities UK.
She claimed that limiting the number of international students would be a self-destructive act that would have a detrimental impact on the regions of the nation that the government is trying to make more prosperous.
Suella Braverman, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, also brought up the need to lower the number of foreign students in the UK when she stated that the country has experienced a significant growth in both international students and their families. Braverman declared that she intended to limit the number of overseas students in the UK who are permitted to stay in the nation after graduating.
According to figures from HESA, more than 605,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education institutions in the UK during the 2020–21 academic year, meaning that the country exceeded its target of welcoming 600,000 international students ten years faster than anticipated.