These attitudes are very different from education policy of the last five to ten years, when the government directly encouraged international students to study in the UK. International students are valuable in part because of the economic benefits they bring.
Fees payments alone bring in billions of pounds to UK education every year. But international students also bring new cultures and perspectives to UK education from all around the world, making the UK a truly global place to study.
An NUS/HSBC student experience survey in 2010 even found that international students were more likely than UK-domiciled students to belong to a club or society on campus.
However, the UK Border Agency has recently proposed to seriously limit the number of international students who are able to come to the UK. NUS is strongly opposed to this measure and has been working closely with students’ unions all over the country to gather information and case studies to challenge the government’s proposals.
The issue that has caused the most controversy among students is the proposal to cancel or severely restrict the post study work route, the means by which international students are permitted to stay and work in the UK for up to two years after completing their studies, gaining valuable work experience and contributing to the UK economy while they do so.
A survey undertaken by NUS found that the option to do post-study work was very important to over three quarters of international student respondents in making their decision to study in the UK. Moreover, 67 per cent said that if the post-study work route were cancelled they would no longer recommend the UK as a study destination to students of their home country.
Cutting international student numbers would damage the UK’s global reputation and lead to an impoverished experience of education for all students.
To find out more about the representation and campaigning work that NUS does for international students, contact the International Students Officer, Christina Yan Zhang, here.