A group of vice-chancellors from sixteen top UK universities have continued the fight against government plans to reduce the number of visas for international students coming to study in the UK.
In a joint letter to British newspaper ‘The Observer’, the professors wrote to “express profound concern at the damage that would be caused to the UK economy and to our universities if the government's proposals to reduce the number of international students coming to the UK are implemented”.
The letter came in response to British Home Secretary Theresa May revealing plans to make it harder for international students to get visas to study in the UK. The government has promised to cut migration to Britain by 2015 and students currently represent almost two thirds of non-EU migrants.
There is the concern that a high number of non-EU students coming to the UK are using obscure courses at untrustworthy institutions simply to get a visa. However, in their letter, the university vice-chancellors denied this, arguing that “evidence shows that international students in universities overwhelmingly do not abuse the system”.
They went on to say:
