Review into foreign students’ impact on UK to be launched

A major investigation into the impact of international students on the UK’s society and economy will be launched today.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd will task the Government’s expert body on migration with carrying out the detailed assessment.

It will examine the effect both EU and non-EU students have on the labour market and economy while they are in the country.

The review will be announced as the Home Office publishes the first data compiled from exit checks, a system introduced in April 2015 to track the departure from Britain of more than 100 million air, rail and ferry travellers.

Ministers rolled out the regime to build a more complete picture of whether those who enter the UK leave when they are supposed to, and help immigration enforcement target those in the country illegally.

Any light that exit checks data sheds on the movements of overseas students is likely to come under close scrutiny, following questions over a large gap between estimates of arrivals and departures of foreign nationals who come to Britain to study.

The in-depth analysis of international students, to be carried out by the Migration Advisory Committee, will look at the impact of tuition fees and other spending by foreign students on the national, regional and local economies.

It will also consider the impact their recruitment has on the quality of education given to domestic students, with the committee asked to report back by September next year.

The Government says it is committed to keeping the doors open to genuine students, while cracking down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions.