A government policy which condemns universities to tighter visa controls must be reviewed, the Liberal Democrat Creative Industries Spokesperson has said.
Currently universities and colleges can maintain their Highly Trusted Sponsor status as long as no more than 10% of the students they recruit are refused student visas by the Home Office, but there is concern this could be lowered.
The threshold was last reduced from 20% in November 2014 and the change has had a significant impact on smaller institutions, with lower student numbers meaning only a few visa refusals can push them above the 10% threshold, with little ability to address or mitigate this.
Lord Clement Jones, Liberal Democrat’s spokesperson for the Creative Industries said, “The Conservatives claim they have a long-term plan to secure a better future for Britain, yet they remain blissfully unaware of the difficulties they are causing our universities. By blindly pandering to meet immigration targets, they are also putting at risk the £10 billion a year which overseas students contribute to the British economy. The policy has made it virtually impossible for universities to freely recruit and offer places to students from countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan, to name but two countries.”
