UK Education Department Rebuffed Sunak’s Proposal

The government’s decision to prohibit non-research postgraduate students from bringing their families to the UK has been followed by a new plan to reduce the presence of foreign students in the country. However, concerns regarding potential tuition fee hikes for British students prompted a revision of Suella Braverman’s proposal to limit the number of international students in the UK.

The Department for Education (DfE) intervened and opposed the Home Secretary’s drastic cuts, stating that foreign students actually contribute to subsidizing domestic fees, as stated in the report. Suella Braverman’s agenda includes a plan to shorten the permissible duration of stay for international students after completing their courses.

Additionally, the government had previously contemplated limiting international recruitment exclusively to prestigious universities. However, the Department for Education intervened by cautioning privately that a decline in foreign student numbers would necessitate increased financial support from taxpayers for universities or potentially higher tuition fees for British students.

In a similar vein, universities have put forth comparable arguments to oppose the reduction of foreign student enrolments. Jamie Arrowsmith, the director of Universities UK International, an organization representing British higher education institutions globally, emphasized recently that international students play a crucial role in filling funding gaps within the education sector.