Home Office visa abuse claims ‘misleading’, says Russell Group

The Russell Group has accused the government of making “misleading” claims to justify its policy of halting student visa applications from several countries.

The Home Office’s “visa brake”, which applies to students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, came into force on 26 March.

Billed as an attempt to reduce asylum claims, the government has warned that study routes are “being widely abused” and used “as a de facto immigration system”.

However, the Russell Group of 24 research-intensive universities has published a new briefing paper in response, voicing its concerns on data and impact.

“This messaging is inherently contradictory, and the broad-brush framing implies systemic malpractice for which no evidence has been presented,” it says.

Home Office data shows that the number of people who previously held a student visa before claiming asylum from the four affected countries fell by 54 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

And the paper accused the government of a misleading use of data when it stated that “the proportion of Afghan asylum claims to study visas issued was 95 per cent”.

The Russell Group said this statistic is derived from amalgamating two distinct datasets, when a more meaningful measure would require analysing specific cohorts of people.

Similarly, it also accused the Home Office of issuing contradictory figures on the number of claims by students from Cameroon and Sudan.

“Given the political and human sensitivity of asylum, it is essential that official statistics are presented in ways that accurately reflect what the data can, and cannot, show.

“Misleading figures risk undermining evidence-based policy and damaging trust between the sector and government.”

Given students from these countries represent just a fraction of all international students, the Russell Group said the visa brake will have a limited impact on recruitment.

However, it warned that the policy will have “disproportionate and unintended consequences” for genuine, talented students – including those in receipt of prestigious scholarships.

The “blunt instrument” which has no regard for individual circumstances will also not take into consideration students on pathway programmes, or those resident in third countries, warned the report.

And it says there are also legitimate reasons for students to claim asylum, particularly when there are changing circumstances in their home country.

The Russell Group warned that the policy has broader implications for the UK’s soft power and risks undermining perceptions of the UK as a welcoming destination for genuine students.

The report called for the Home Office to consider limited concessions for students who have already demonstrated academic and immigration compliance. And it called on the government to present evidence in the future “in a way that is accurate and contextualised”.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com