Proposed UK visa restrictions would be ‘hostile act against Britain’s universities’: Report

LONDON - The implementation of Britain’s proposed new restrictions on student visas would be a ‘hostile act against the country’s universities’ as it would cut the number of foreign students aspiring to be part of such institutions, a study report has warned.

The BBC quoted a study for the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) as saying that the plans are better designed to cut recruitment than visa abuse, which would eventually prove a billions of pounds loss for Britain’s universities.

The report by Professor Edward Acton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, has pointed out that universities make nearly five billion pounds in profit every year from overseas students’ fees and off-campus expenditure.

“To implement the proposed measures as they stand would amount to a hostile act against Britain’s universities,” Professor Acton has warned.

The report further said that foreign students are charged much higher tuition fees than home students, adding: “In a tricky funding period most universities plan to expand international numbers in the immediate future. The ability to do so reflects and enhances the reputation of UK higher education internationally.”

Professor Acton also said that the plans to reduce the number of students studying below degree level would not only reduce fee income by about one billion pounds, but also reduce the number of foreign students aspiring to study as undergraduates.

He also warned that raising the language requirement for overseas students would affect the entry of overseas students. He further pointed out that over 40 percent of international students at British universities come via a pre-university pathway course, and that 70 percent of recruits to these courses would be barred by the language requirement change, the report added. (ANI)