Foreign graduate visa scheme to keep 'brightest and best' in UK extends north
A SCHEME to ensure the brightest foreign graduates don’t leave the UK has been extended to include northern universities.
Government scheme to keep brightest foreign graduates from leaving is extended north
A government-ordered probe could allow thousands more talented students to remain for six months to look for work.
Whitehall sources said this could lead to the expansion of the controversial post-study work visas.
The two-year pilot, designed to keep the “brightest and best” in the UK, was announced by the Home Office last summer.
King's collage in Cambridge
But it emerged that just four universities were included, all in the south of England. Critics said that the area did not struggle to attract talented migrants, unlike other parts.
There were fears that just awarding Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London and the University of Bath the right gave them an advantage.
The Home Office said that the four were chosen for their consistently low levels of visa refusals.
But a spokesman added that any expansion could see universities outside the south of England included.
The two-year pilot scheme was announced by the Home Office last summer
Amber Rudd last week ordered an assessment on the impact overseas students have on the economy
Home Secretary Amber Rudd last week ordered the Migration Advisory Committee to assess the impact overseas students have on the economy.
Earlier this week a report revealed that the vast majority of foreign students are not outstaying their British visas.
Checks on non-European nationals whose visas expired in 2016-17 found 97.4 per cent of some 181,000 students left before their permission to stay ran out.