UK government proposes substantial amends to student and graduate visas

One of the sizeable changes that has materialised in the UK immigration white paper is the strengthening of the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.

Basic compliance assessment

The current system utilises the annual basic compliance assessment (BCA) that is used to monitor each sponsor's level of compliance. The reforms intend to raise the minimum pass requirement for each BCA metric by five percentage points. Essentially, this will look like a move from the current metrics of the sponsor's course enrolment rate of at least 90% and a course completion rate of at least 85% to the new metrics of a visa refusal rate of less than 10%, a course enrolment rate of at least 95% and a course completion rate of 90%.

Should sponsors fail to meet at least one BCA metric, they risk having their sponsorship licence revoked and can be temporarily removed from the register of student sponsors for up to two years. The government's aim here is to reduce the leniency of the system and to increase responsibility on sponsors who seek to recruit international students into their institutions.

RAG banding system

Alongside the BCA, a red, amber and green (RAG) banding system will be implemented to rate the BCA performance of individual sponsors. The RAG system aims to clearly set out to the relevant authorities, the public and the sponsors themselves, the institutions that are achieving high rates of compliance to BCA and those that are failing.

Should a sponsor be close to failing the BCA metrics, the government has set out in the white paper the ways in which it will aid the institutions to continue compliance. This includes creating and placing the sponsor on an action plan to improve compliance and to impose limits on the number of new international students they can recruit, subject to said plans.

The government's changes will also require all sponsors wishing to use recruitment agents for overseas students to sign up to the Agent Quality Framework, which is designed to maintain the highest standards of agent management. Labour hopes this will ensure institutions are not merely outsourcing their responsibility and making certain that sponsored individuals are genuinely coming to the UK to study. 

Recruitment protocols

Another important measure is the introduction of the establishment of protocols for future international student recruitment. The government will require sponsoring institutions to demonstrate that they are taking local impacts into account when making decisions regarding international recruitment. This approach aims to balance the benefits of attracting international students with the potential effects on local communities and resources.

In addition to the recruitment protocols, the government will conduct a thorough review of the accreditation bodies responsible for short-term study programmes. The objective is to ensure that the processes these bodies use are robust and effective. The review will also consider the necessity of implementing further checks to guarantee that the right level of scrutiny is applied both before an organisation is accredited and during the renewal of its accreditation.

Graduate impact

Graduate visas have also been impacted by the government's proposals in the white paper; a significant change being the reduced period in which graduates can stay in the UK once their studies have completed. This proposed period is now 18 months, moving away from the current two years that graduates can remain in the UK.

International students

The final proposal impacting sponsors is a proposed levy on higher education provider income from international students. These funds, as the government presents, will then be reinvested into higher education and the skills system.

The final decision of what the levy will look like is likely to be announced in the Autumn Budget later this year; however, the suggested number for the proposal is currently resembling a 6% levy.