The government’s delayed white paper on immigration has finally been published. As well as setting out plans to scrap the cap on the number of skilled workers from the EU and elsewhere, and short-term visas for low-skilled workers, it also includes details of the government’s policy plans for international students. But what does it mean for students from the EU and elsewhere studying at colleges and FE providers?
“We will continue to welcome and encourage international students,” the white paper states, “and place no limit on their numbers.” As at present, students will “generally need to obtain permission before they travel to the UK, with the exception of non-visa nationals who can be granted entry as a short-term student for a course up to six months without permission to travel”. In future, non-visa, short-term students will require an “electronic travel authorisation” to enter the UK.
- Right to stay on after studying - but in few colleges
Students who wish to stay on in the UK after completing their programme of study will be allowed six months’ post-study leave. This will apply to all master’s students, and bachelor’s students attending an institution with degree-awarding powers. This covers most universities - but, crucially, barely any colleges.
“We will also allow for students studying at bachelor’s level or above to be able to apply to switch into the skilled-workers route up to three months before the end of their course in the UK, and from outside of the UK for two years after their graduation,” the paper adds.
There appears little prospect of the change being applied to lower-level courses. “We do not propose to lower standards in the study route, which is working well after the reforms which stopped the unacceptably high levels of immigration abuse encountered a decade ago by non-genuine students,” the document adds.
- UK still open for business
Despite the anti-immigration rhetoric that prevailed during EU referendum campaigning, the white paper stresses international students have a valuable contribution to make. It says: “International students enhance our educational institutions both financially and culturally; they enrich the experience of domestic students; and they become important ambassadors for the United Kingdom in later life.”
