• May 12, 2023

Master’s students on 1 year courses at UK universities may not be able to bring dependants: Report

Master’s students on 1 year courses at UK universities may not be able to bring dependants: Report

LONDON May 12: The UK government is planning to stop family members from joining overseas master’s students at British universities, says reports.

The Department for Education, the Home Office and the Treasury are finalising a plan that would stop dependants from travelling with master’s students on one-year courses, according to Financial Times quoting several officials close to the discussions.

One source told the Financial Times: “Many of these courses only last for nine months. We don’t think this will have a big effect on our ability to attract global talent.”

One minister confirmed the focus was on the dependants of master’s students, saying: “It’s clear we have to do something. We’re a long way from David Cameron’s promise to reduce annual net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’.”

The Treasury, which normally favours higher migration, has accepted the political need to restrict the number of dependants of overseas students, while Gillian Keegan, education secretary, has also agreed to the plan, according to the report.

The surge in legal net migration is boosting the size of Britain’s workforce but the issue is politically problematic for the prime minister. Sunak is grappling with the separate and more contentious issue of illegal migration by people in small boats coming across the English Channel.

The Conservatives are trailing the opposition Labour party by about 15 percentage points in opinion polls and last week were hammered in local elections in England. Immigration has become one of the most explosive political issues.

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