Immigration: International Students

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Holmes of Richmond]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will now consider removing international students from the net migration statistics.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare my interest as set out in the register.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford)]

My Lords, migration statistics are produced by the independent Office for National Statistics, which follows international best practice. The Government do not intend to seek to influence this. There is no plan to limit the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK and, in 2017, the number of university-sponsored visas issued rose by 6%.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond]

My Lords, international students contribute well over £20 billion to the economy —an economic boon for Britain. Currently, more than 50 Heads of State or Prime Ministers were educated in UK higher education. Show me a more successful piece of soft power. In light of this, will my noble friend consider the pilot for named UK universities for visas and going back to the department and reconsidering removing international students from the net migration figures?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend is nothing if not consistent. I am very pleased to tell him, as he mentioned the pilot study, that a further 23 institutions have been selected on the basis of having a consistently low visa refusal rate for their region. The pilot means that universities are responsible for eligibility checks, so students applying for their visa can submit fewer documents alongside their visa applications. The pilot also helps to support students who wish to switch to a work route and take up a graduate role by extending the leave period following the end of their study by up to six months.