Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending graduate work visas in response to the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Graduate route will be launched in summer 2021 and will enable students to work or look for work for two years (three years for PhD students) after successful completion of their course of study.

To be eligible for the route students must successfully complete a degree at undergraduate level or above at a Higher Education Provider (HEP) with a track record of compliance and hold valid leave as a student after the route is launched.

Students whose leave expires prior to the introduction of the route will not be eligible, but still benefit from favourable switching provisions into skilled work routes, including the new Skilled Worker Route.