13/05/2025
Welcome to the spring edition of Higher Education Today, looking at current topics and questions facing higher education institutions.
In each edition we feature content from key members of our Higher Education legal and regulatory team. If you would like further details about these individuals or information about the wider Higher Education team please see our Higher Education brochure.
In this edition, we are focussing on the Immigration White Paper published on Monday 12 May. This paper marks a significant shift in the government’s immigration policy, aiming to address concerns over high migration levels and to reduce the UK’s reliance on overseas recruitment in favour of training and upskilling UK workers.
Our higher education immigration experts, Sheetal Gaur and Tijen Ahmet, outline below some key changes which impact student sponsors.
We hope you find the newsletter interesting and helpful.
Ashley Norman
Department Head for Higher Education
Say hello to us
Our Higher Education team is attending and speaking at a number of in-person and online events over the next few months, please follow the link for details. If you are also at these events, please come and say hello to us.
Universities Human Resources (UHR) – virtual Annual Conference, 13-15 May 2025, Ashley Norman, Anne Palmer and Siobhan Mulrey will be presenting an online legal session
Association of University Legal Practitioners (AULP) – in-person Conference, 25-27 June 2025, Amy Tschobotko and Virginia Cooper are presenting on OfS Condition of Registration E6
Higher Education Update: Summary of Immigration White Paper
On Monday, 12 May, the Labour government published a comprehensive White Paper which sets out it’s immigration policy to reduce net migration levels by tightening rules for work, family and study visas.
This paper marks a significant shift in the government’s immigration policy, aiming to address concerns over high migration levels and to reduce the UK’s reliance on overseas recruitment in favour of training and upskilling UK workers.
While the paper sets out policy changes on all visa routes – work, family and study; we have outlined below some key changes which impact student sponsors:
1. Enhanced compliance for educational institutions who sponsor international students: One of the key reforms proposed in the paper is the tightening of compliance standards for education institutions that sponsor international students.
Following measures have been set out:
- Increase to minimum pass requirement for Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA): The threshold for Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA), which evaluates education institutions’ compliance on metrics such as visa refusal rates, student dropout rates and course completion rates will be increased by 5%. For example – under the new reforms, a sponsor will need to maintain a course enrolment of at least 95% (currently 90%) and a course completion rate of 90% (currently 85%) to pass the compliance threshold.
- Implementing a new Red-Amber-Green banding system to rate the BCA performance of each sponsor so that so that it is clear to the sponsors, the authorities and the public which institutions are achieving a high rate of compliance, and which are at risk of failing.
- Introducing new interventions for sponsor who are close to failing the BCA metrics, including placing them on a bespoke action plan and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans.
- Requirement for all sponsors wishing to use recruitment agents for overseas students to sign up for Agent quality framework to ensure that institutions cannot simply outsource their responsibility and that the individuals they are sponsoring are genuinely coming to the UK to study.
The government has indicated that they would explore the possibility of a levy on income from international students (further details will be set out in the Autumn budget) and also introduce arrangements where Education institutions would need to demonstrate that they are considering local impacts when taking decisions on international recruitment.
2. Short-term study route: The government will conduct a review of the accreditation bodies for short-term student route, to ensure that their processes are robust and consider more checks before an organisation is accredited and when the accreditation is being renewed.
3. Changes to Graduate route: The government has announced that it would reduce the ability for Graduates to remain in the UK after their studies from 24 months to 18 months. It is also expected that those who stay on Graduate route, would need to transition into graduate level jobs.
4. Changes to English language requirements: The English language requirement for Skilled workers and majority of immigration routes will be increased from B1 to B2 (Independent user). The existing English requirements for settlement across most immigration routes will be increased from B1 to B2.
Furthermore, a new English requirement at level A1 (Basic user) will be introduced for all adult dependants of workers and students. There will be a requirement to demonstrate progression to level A2 for any visa extension and B2 for settlement route.
5. Changes to Skilled worker route: Find out more in our recent article 'Immigration Update: Summary of Immigration White Paper'.
While the government’s emphasis on compliance may preserve integrity of the student route and overall reduce net migration; the proposed measures – such as reducing the length of the Graduate visa, increased Basic Compliance Assessment thresholds and potential levy on income from international students are likely to pose significant operational and financial challenges for the Higher Education (HE) sector.
These reforms signal a shift towards a greater scrutiny and accountability for student sponsors. Education Institutions should plan ahead, prioritise compliance at every level and ensure they are recruiting only genuine students.
For further information or support please contact our Higher Education team.
