The United Kingdom (UK) plans to deport international students in the country who do not achieve high enough grades.
The Telegraph reported that the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, has advised the United Kingdom Migration Advisory Committee to review the graduate visa as part of a five-point plan to reduce net migration by 300,000 from its record-high levels.
The report announced that the UK granted two-year visas to over 98,000 international students to remain in the country after their graduation, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 42,000 or 74 per cent.
“There are fears that it is being used as a backdoor route to work in the UK, often in low-skilled jobs, or simply to stay for two years as there is no requirement to take up employment,” it said.
The chairman of the committee, Professor Brian Bell, stated that there’s currently no requirement for students to graduate with a particular grade.
His words: “There’s no requirement to get particular grades in your university course or anything like that.
“That’s the question we want to review in the graduate route to think about whether that’s sensible or whether you should have a rule that says you have to achieve a certain grade or a certain kind of achievement in your course.”
Bell further said the committee would also investigate whether there should be further restrictions that would only allow foreign students to stay in the UK if they went to certain universities or completed specified courses. Also, certain types of jobs or activities could also be subject to limitations.
“At the moment, there’s no restriction on what you can do. You can, if you’ve got the money, just sit around and do nothing in the UK for two years. You can also take a minimum wage job, or you can take a very highly paid job,” he added.
Former home secretary, Suella Braverman and former immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, have also made calls to scrap or overhaul the graduate visa amid concerns it was fuelling immigration and was open to abuse.
The Telegraph reported that in an earlier article, Jenrick said, “The graduate route is ripe for comprehensive reform. Too many universities have fallen into the migration, rather than education business, and are marketing low grade, short courses as a backdoor to a life in the UK.”