Advisory committee calls for a review of international student policy

A government advisory panel has said that rules allowing non-European students to stay in the UK after attending further education colleges should be reviewed.

The Migration Advisory Committee is concerned students can obtain two-year visas regardless of the standard of the teaching or degree.

These rules are part of a points-based system, aimed and attracting and retaining highly-qualified and skilled workers.

Professor David Metcalf, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee said: “The highly skilled route of the points based system is very important to the UK economy. Therefore, it should be maintained and improved in order to ensure that the UK continues to attract the brightest and best.

"We are clear that Tier 1 migrants must not displace or undercut UK workers. Immigration should not serve as a disincentive to employers to invest in training to improve the skills of workers in Britain.

"The recommendations that we have made will ensure that the system is robust enough to deal with the changing global economy and that the UK remains attractive for foreign investment."

The Government’s objective for Tier 1 is to increase the skills and knowledge of the UK workforce, while maintaining the flexibility of the UK labour market.

In order to meet this objective, the MAC recommends that all four routes of Tier 1 (General, Post-Study Work, Entrepreneur and Investor) are retained.

In addition, for the Tier 1 General route, the MAC recommends that:

* the Government rapidly and thoroughly reviews the salary multipliers used to convert prior earnings from outside the UK into a UK equivalent

* UK Border Agency considers the operational feasibility of an employer acting as a guarantor for an individual’s maintenance requirement within the Tier 1 General route.

For the Post-Study Work Route (PSWR), the MAC recommends the following:

* the Government carries out research into the economic returns to studying at particular educational institutions and for particular degree subjects in the UK in order to review access to the Post-Study Work Route for foreign graduates

* the grant of leave under this route remains at its current level of two years.

For the Entrepreneur Route the MAC recommends the following:

* the UK Border Agency dedicates sufficient resources to examination of whether jobs created by individuals represent a genuine net increase in jobs.

It is for the Government to decide whether and when to accept these recommendations, as well as the timescales for implementation.