UK's foreign student cap policy comes under fire

The British government's plans to tighten restrictions on students coming from India and other non-EU regions have come under fire from a prominent parliamentary group, which has warned that the government is ignoring evidence that the changes could have a huge impact on the economy.

The changes could cost the British economy £3.6 billion over a four-year period, according to an Impact Assessment received from the government by the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.

As much as £2 billion could be lost from the loss of output by students and their dependents with tightening restrictions on their ability to work while in the UK, while another £1.2 billion would be lost from the economy as a result of the post-study route to work being closed off to many. The loss of fees to educational institutions and the UK Border Agency, will also contribute.

The report warned that some of the costs could even have been underestimated, questioning government optimism among the number of places at further education colleges that would be taken up by EU students.

However, the committee was particularly critical of the scant attention paid to the assessment by the government, warning that “inadequate migration data sources” were thwarting attempts to develop “genuinely evidence-based immigration policy”.

“The Government appears to be not only making policy without adequate immigration statistics, but also ignoring its own evidence,” said Mr Keith Vaz, the Chairman of the committee. “We reiterate the need for an immigration policy which is both evidence-based and does not adversely affect the British economy.”

The restrictions on student visas are a central plank of the coalition government's attempt to cut immigration from “hundreds of thousands” to “tens of thousands” through the introduction of caps.

While intra-company transfers are not subjected to the cap, and rules governing highly-skilled employees have been substantially tweaked, following an outcry from global businesses, the student route has been subject to particularly tough changes.

The government expects non-EU student numbers to fall by 260,000 in the next five years as a result of the changes.

Business schools have been highly critical of the restrictions on a student's ability to work, and bring dependents, and are fearful of a loss of students from Asia, who form an increasingly large part of the student body.

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