Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Migration Advisory Committee Impact of International Students in the UK, published in September 2018, and in particular the conclusion that "it is likely that those who would benefit from a longer period to find a graduate level job are not the most highly skilled".

The Government strongly wishes to attract international students to study in the UK. They enhance our educational institutions both financially and culturally; they enrich the experience of domestic students; and they can become important ambassadors for the United Kingdom in later life. The Graduate route significantly enhances our offer to international students and the attractiveness of the UK as a world-leading destination for higher education.

The Government at the time, set out its response to the recommendation of the Migration Advisory Committee. However, following the UK’s exit from the EU and the launch of our new points-based system, the introduction of the Graduate route demonstrates our global outlook and support for the UK’s education sector. The route will also help us realise our ambition, as set out in the International Education Strategy, to increase UK education exports to £35 billion and the number of international higher education students to 600,000 by 2030.

This Government has set out its assessment of the impact of the route. This can be found on the gov.uk website or through the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1248-4-march-2021