The UK should continue to aim for growth in overseas student numbers but universities must not rule out reform of the imperfect graduate visa, according to a new report that aims to shape the country¡¯s coming new international education strategy.

Academics, sector representatives and former government ministers who sit on the International Higher Education Commission (IHEC) have stopped short of setting a new target for international students coming to the UK but instead said?the number should rise ¡°at a pace that can be accommodated through necessary changes in support mechanisms¡±, including public services and housing.

Its report, published on 16 April, comes ahead of the government releasing its own refreshed strategy, expected this summer, and as student visas again come under the spotlight as part of wider debates about immigration.

The previous international education strategy, launched by then universities minister Chris Skidmore in 2019, set a target of attracting 600,000 overseas students by 2030 ¨C a figure that was reached in 2020. The surge in international students led to concerns about stretched public services and increased rents, as well as contributing to an upswing in the UK¡¯s net migration figures.

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Some have urged the UK to be bold and set a new target of?1 million students to show it is open for business, but Skidmore, who now chairs the IHEC ¨C a group set up to consider what a future strategy could look like ¨C told Times Higher Education that the commission had avoided suggesting a ¡°headline figure target¡±, having ¡°learnt the lessons¡± from the previous strategy.

David Pilsbury, chief development officer at Oxford International Education Group and a member of the commission, agreed. ¡°You need to take a step back and look at how you could manage this system more effectively, but, in principle, we should be looking to grow because¡­there are very few downsides to international students,¡± he said.

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In the report, the group also urges the government to maintain the graduate route ¨C a post-study visa that allows international students to stay and work in the UK after they complete their studies ¨C but suggested it needed more oversight.

The government is thought to be reviewing the visa route and considering introducing new restrictions, such as salary thresholds as part of a coming White Paper on legal migration. Universities have spoken out against these proposed changes, highlighting concerns that further amendments to student visas could reduce inbound numbers and exacerbate the financial challenges institutions are facing.

However, Skidmore suggested there may be ¡°opportunities for reform¡±, including reviewing whether offering a two-year post-study work visa to students who have undertaken a one year master¡¯s course is ¡°sustainable¡±.

¡°What we don¡¯t want is a sector that¡¯s simply defending the status quo for status quo¡¯s sake, because it¡¯s a financial imperative for them to do so,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s approaching things from the wrong end.¡±

But Pilsbury suggested that a ¡°pragmatic¡± approach is needed given concerns around institutional insolvency.

¡°The first thing we must do is to provide a basis for universities to trade themselves out of trouble because there is no other source of funding,¡± he said.

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¡°Were we to allow the sector to continue to recruit a modest increase in the number of overseas students, we would get to a financially sustainable position and then we¡¯ve identified where you might go.¡±

The group recommended that an overarching body take responsibility for the graduate route, while the government should tackle ¡°perceptions that students use it for migration and more clearly [demonstrate] its unique contribution to employers¡±.

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IHEC also called for an ¡°integrated immigration tracking system¡± that ¡°links student visa issuance, university enrolment data, and post-study departure information¡± to help change public perceptions of student migration and monitor abuse of these visa routes.

¡°Until it is clear that the government has accurate, robust, and analysable information about when an overseas student enters the country to begin their studies and leaves the country at the end of the permitted period, this will remain problematic for the sector and government,¡± the report says.

Despite long-running calls from some in the sector to remove international students from net migration figures, the report concedes that this is a standard global measure. Instead, it says, ¡°the government can and should do more to provide context and nuance in how international students are discussed within the migration debate¡±.

¡°If we can establish confidence in mechanisms to manage and monitor overseas student numbers in the UK we can establish a convincing and positive narrative¡± around international students, it says, including showing that only a small proportion ultimately remain in the UK long term.

The commission also said that rhetoric from the previous government around so-called ¡°Mickey Mouse degrees¡± had damaged the UK¡¯s international brand and suggested a ?5 million fund be established to help promote the UK as an education destination.

Skidmore added that more positive messaging from the current Labour government had been a ¡°welcome change¡±.

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¡°This is now an opportunity for action,¡± he said. ¡°The sector¡¯s waiting now to see whether those words are followed up with positive progress.¡±

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com