Speed of requested graduate visa review ‘will limit quality’

The professor leading the government’s Migration Advisory Committee has warned the home secretary that his request for a rapid review of the graduate visa route sets timescales “much shorter than a normal commission”, which will “substantially limit the quality and quantity of evidence” it can provide.

Brian Bell, professor of economics and head of department at King’s College London, and the MAC chair, responded on 12 March after the government set terms of reference for the “rapid review” of the graduate route, which universities fear could spell financial damage if it recommends scaling back or scrapping the route.

James Cleverly had written to Professor Bell on 11 March – more than three months after the government’s original announcement that the graduate route would be reviewed – asking it to report by 14 May on issues including “analysis of whether the graduate route is undermining the integrity and quality of the UK higher education system”.

There is a growing backlash against the graduate visa among Conservative MPs as their worries about the level of net migration grow ahead of the next general election. Some argue that the route – which allows overseas graduates of UK universities to stay in the country for two years after graduation – has become an open door for low-skill, low-wage workers.

“We would note that the timescales for this review are much shorter than a normal commission,” Professor Bell says in his letter to Mr Cleverly.

“As such, this will substantially limit the quality and quantity of evidence that we can provide to answer the questions included in the commissioning letter. We will not be able to conduct a call for evidence given the timelines set by the government for this commission. We also note that it has taken longer for the government to commission us than we have been given to complete the review.”

Professor Bell says the MAC “urgently” requires data from the Home Office, including for “all those on the graduate route, linked to any visas moved onto after that point (such as skilled worker route) since its inception to current date”, and visa data “linked to HMRC records, for all financial years available with an agreement for us to conduct independent analysis of this data and publish without ministerial clearance”.

“This is the only source that will provide a comprehensive picture on whether those on the graduate route are in work and if so what types of roles they are doing, needed to assess the economic impacts of the route,” Professor Bell continues. “Without this we will be unable to respond to some of the questions set out in the commissioning letter.”

Labour has been accused of opting for deliberate silence on the review of the graduate route, raising fears that, it if it wins the next election, it would not reverse any Conservative government move to scrap or scale back the route.

Sector organisations that have expressed concern about a possible drop in international student recruitment in recent months have included the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

“We are concerned by the rapid nature of the review that the home secretary has asked the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake and believe that the committee must engage with the full range of stakeholders to ensure that there is no unintended damage to the UK’s world-leading business schools or the universities in which those business schools are placed,” said Robert MacIntosh, the organisation’s chair.

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com