Universities face ban on overseas recruitment if students ‘game asylum system’

George Lithgow and Ellie Ng, Press Association

Universities could be banned from recruiting international students if they fail to crack down on the use of study visas as a backdoor route to claiming asylum.

High drop-out rates can indicate students have been working illegally rather than studying, the Home Office said.

Ministers hope a new “traffic light rating” system will highlight which institutions are not vetting responsibly.

Those rated red will face restrictions on the number of overseas students they can recruit and must fund a 12-month action plan, while institutions that do not improve could lose their international recruitment rights altogether.

International students, who typically pay higher tuition fees than domestic ones, are a key source of income for many cash-strapped British universities.

A report by the House of Commons Education Committee last month warned how immigration policies might affect numbers of international students whose fees institutions rely on.

The new penalty system will not be introduced until summer 2027.

Minister for migration and citizenship Mike Tapp said: “The UK will always welcome genuine international students, and our universities are rightly admired around the world.

“But our visa system must not be used as a backdoor to asylum and illegal working.

“Those seeking to game the system should know we are watching – and won’t hesitate to act.”

According to Home Office figures, 10,835 people who claimed asylum in the year up to March held a study visa.

New study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan were stopped earlier this year amid concerns a growing number of people from these countries were exploiting the system.

Professor Malcolm Press, president of Universities UK, said: “We are fully committed to protecting the integrity of the visa system and working in partnership with the Home Office.

“International students bring significant economic and soft power benefits… We want the UK to remain open and welcoming but that depends on responding quickly to any risks of abuse.

“What universities need from government is policy stability, transparent visa decision-making, and real-time data to act on emerging concerns.

“The sector relies on international student income, and recent sharp declines have led to substantial cost-cutting and job losses. It is essential that we build a fair, stable and transparent system that works in the national interest.”