LONDON – The recently elected government of the United Kingdom (UK) has announced to keep the restrictions regarding student visas intact.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed in a TV interview that the Labour Party has no plans to lift visa restrictions imposed on international students by the previous Rishi Sunak Government.
In January, Sunak’s government imposed multiple restrictions to prevent most international students from bringing dependents with them to the UK.
With the elections, it was expected that the government might soften its stance regarding international students; however, the education secretary has confirmed that the government did not intend to reverse the changes introduced for international students.
The minister explained that international students make a tremendous contribution adding that welcoming international students enables the UK to create an impact and to forge business and trading links.
As far as tuition fees are concerned, the minister noted that increasing tuition fees would be ‘unpalatable’ as students across the UK continue to face challenges including the cost of living and housing costs.
‘I do recognize the challenge, and I hear that message from institutions as well, but I think that’s a really unpalatable thing to be considering,’ the minister told Sky News.
The education secretary highlighted that the government does intend to reform the system overall though complete details have not been shared.
It is to be highlighted that the fresh data shared by the Home Office implies a 40 percent drop in sponsored study visa applications, suggesting that visa restrictions implemented by Rishi Sunak’s regime left an impact.
The figures from June also confirm that the restrictions were hampering international students. For this month, the Home Office received just 28,200 applications, a significant decrease from the 38,900 received in June last year.
