Education Secretary signals plan to push for more international students

The Home Office is under increased pressure to cut migration in the run-up to the next general election.
The Education Secretary may challenge the Home Office’s plan to cut migration, arguing that the financial boost from international students to British universities was ‘hugely valuable’ (Alamy/PA)
Alana Calvert11 February 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The Education Secretary may challenge the Home Office’s plan to cut migration, arguing that the financial boost from international students to British universities was “hugely valuable”.

Gillian Keegan said she is wanting to expand education export revenues from about £26bn to £35bn by 2030.

Speaking with the Financial Times, Ms Keegan said the university sector was one which “we should be very proud of”.

She said: “It’s world-leading, a great advert to our country. We have a strategy which is very much focused on growing the revenue.”

It comes as Home Secretary Suella Braverman looks for ways to control migration – however, as of Thursday, she was still refusing to put a timeline on when the Government’s plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel would succeed.

The Government has been under serious pressure from Tory backbenchers over the issue, with some calling for more urgent action from the Prime Minister.

In the run-up to the next general election, Rishi Sunak has signalled the publishing of legislation to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats as one of his top five priorities.

According to the Financial Times, in 2022 there were 680,000 overseas students enrolled in UK universities – more than the Government’s 600,000 target.

The paper added that, according to officials, Ms Keegan and Ms Braverman met on Thursday to discuss options, including reviewing the eligibility of overseas students for a two-year work visa and the ability of students on “low-value” courses to bring dependants to Britain.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in