The Government has proposed reforms to the student visa system which include scrapping the Post-Study Work Visa programme for international students.

The Post-Study Work Visa (PSW) scheme currently allows graduates of British universities to stay and work in the UK for two years after the end of their degree. If the Government gets rid of the scheme, overseas students will be forced to rely on employee sponsorship and Tier 2 visas in order to pursue a career in the UK. These visas are notoriously difficult to obtain: and their number is likely to be capped at around 20,000 a year.

Sponsors will usually have to certify that no suitable candidate for the job can be found in the EU, although this formality will be waived for international students who receive a job offer before they graduate.

Other proposals include: introducing a tougher English language requirement, ensuring students wishing to extend their studies show evidence of academic progression, limiting students’ entitlements to work and their ability to bring in dependents, implementing more vigorous inspections, and requiring international students who wish to apply for a new visa return to their home country to file the application.

The reforms, suggested by Immigration Minister Damian Green, would toughen entrance criteria and make it almost impossible for international students to stay on and look for a job in Britain after their course has ended.

The UK border agency claim the policy’s aim is to ensure "that only genuine students who are committed to their academic study come to the UK, with a presumption that upon completion they will leave promptly."

Whilst they acknowledge that "immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy", they assert that "there is concern that the UK is attracting students who aren’t always the brightest and the best".

They added that "the Government wants to ensure that those who enter on a student visa come here to study, not to work or with a view to settling here... Students now represent the largest proportion of net migration from outside Europe. We need to ensure that the number of international students coming to the UK is broadly in balance with the number leaving."

However, many believe the impact of tougher immigration controls on the British higher education will be extremely damaging to the education sector, as was seen in Australia earlier this year .

Since February 2010, the Australian government began restricting immigration of students by placing restrictions on graduate post-study work visas , making the student visa application process more arduous and cracking down on visas for non-degree programmes such as language courses.

These changes, along with a series of racist attacks on Indian students and the high strength of the Australian dollar, lead to an unprecedented decrease in international applicants to Australian Universities in 2010. By August, a report published for the Australian Technology Network of Universities entitled ‘The Economic Implications of Fewer International Higher Education Students in Australia’ predicted a worst case scenario of 35 per cent reduction in overseas students, a loss of 3.3 billion Australian dollars (£2 billion) for 3 years, and 36,000 job losses.

These estimates weren’t far off; by December, Monash University saw a 30 per cent drop in demand for its preparation college. Other technical universities are expecting a reduction of 25 per cent in overseas admissions over the next two years.

As a result of these alarming figures, the Australian government retracted some of the immigration changes in December 2010.

The Post-Study Work scheme was partly set up to allow the UK to compete with other nations known to attract international students, such as Canada and the US, which tend to have more open immigration policies. If the proposed changes are implemented, many worry that foreign students will have one less reason to apply to the UK.

The UK has especially struggled to compete with the US for overseas students, due to the large amount of funding for bursaries and scholarships available in US institutions, and the greater dominance of the US in international league tables

In the US overseas graduates can stay for one year after graduation to look for a job; and once they find a job they become eligible for a work permit (H-1B visa), for which the employer need not certify a lack of suitable candidates from the home nation, unlike UK work permits. In addition, graduates with an advanced degree (a Masters or above) are eligible for a green card (EB2), i.e. permanent residency. These visas are subject to annual cap based on nationality.

The UK Border Agency has launched a ‘Public Consultation Paper’ outlining fully the proposed reforms and their aims, asking for public feedback online. Damian Green added, "This Government wants high calibre students with the genuine desire to study to come to our country for temporary periods, and then return home. We want to hear views of our proposals from a wide range of people so that our reforms meet this objective."

Morgan Wild, CUSU-GU Student Support Officer, told Varsity, "With their determination to make all international students leave as soon as they have finished their degree, the Government is removing opportunities that benefit thousands of current international students, as well as benefiting society as a whole. When our universities have invested considerable resources in teaching these students, I cannot understand what possible good reason there could be for forcing them to leave the country, refusing to let them continue to contribute to the social and economic life of [Britain]."