The United Kingdom Migration Advisory Committee has said foreign students on two-year graduate visas who fail to achieve high grades may be barred from staying in the UK.
According to The Telegraph, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), commissioned by Home Secretary James Cleverly, will scrutinize the current program as part of a broader effort to reduce net migration by 300,000.
It reported that more than 98,000 students were granted two-year visas to remain in the UK after their graduation in June 2023, an increase of 42,000 or 74 per cent in just a year.
“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.
According to him, “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.
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