UK extending education visas to boost number of overseas students after Brexit
- Department for Education said ‘post-study leave period will be extended to six months for undergraduate and master’s students, and a year for doctoral students’
International students will be given visa extensions of up to a year to look for work in the UK as part of a package of government measures to boost numbers of overseas students after Brexit.
The move represents a break with current policy, where students are allowed to stay for just four months after graduating.
Announcing the strategy, the Department for Education (DFE) said: “There is no limit on the number of international students that can study in the UK, and to ensure the UK continues to attract and welcome them, the post-study leave period will be extended to six months for undergraduate and master’s students, and a year for doctoral students.”
It said the government would also consider “how the visa process could be improved for applicants and supporting student employment”, hinting at another possible change in policy.
The DFE and the Department for International Trade also plan to unveil an international education strategy with a 30 per cent increase in overseas students in UK higher education during the next decade.
This would raise the number of non-UK students at British universities from 460,000 – including nearly 140,000 from the EU – to 600,000 by 2030, an ambitious target given that EU students will face higher tuition fees and lose access to student loans after Brexit.