U.K. Graduate Visa Key to Attracting Students, Study Finds

Students see a U.K. degree as enhancing their career prospects

The perceived prestige and global recognition of U.K. degrees and the availability of the Graduate visa route were important factors for students choosing to study in the U.K., a study has found.

The foreign graduates believed that acquiring a U.K. degree would enhance their career prospects while some also viewed studying in the U.K. as a potential pathway to long-term settlement, especially those with dependants, the report published July 9, said.

The research was commissioned by the Migration Advisory Committee as part of its review of the Graduate visa route and carried out by Revealing Reality through a series of 40 interviews with recent graduates from U.K. universities who used the visa. It aimed to provide MAC with a picture of how the route worked in practice and help it better understand the experiences of these people.

The research follows a MAC report in May, where it recommended that the Graduate visa route be retained in its current form as it found no evidence of significant abuse of the facility, or where users deliberately didn’t comply with immigration rules. It said that the Graduate route has broadly achieved and continues to achieve the objectives set by the government.

MAC’s review was commissioned by the Home Office in March amid allegations that foreign graduates were flooding the jobs market and figures showed a surge in immigration. The U.K. issued 114,400 graduate visas last year, a 57 percent rise from the 73,000 in the preceding year, MAC said. It also issued 25,900 visas to dependants of graduates in 2023 compared to 14,000 in the preceding year.

Other findings of the Revealing Reality research were:

Employment outcomes did not always align with people’s expectations

Post-graduation employment outcomes were mixed, with a notable gap between expectations and reality. Few participants secured roles directly related to their field of study, and some were unemployed. Most who were unemployed were either looking for work, applying for further studies or looking into alternative visa routes to allow them to remain in the U.K. Some of those who had not secured work related to their studies reported some disappointment and surprise at being unable to do so. The few involved in this research who worked in care did so as a fallback option after struggling to find positions more aligned with their qualifications.

Increase in salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa had little impact

Proposed increases to the Skilled Worker visa salary threshold would not have dissuaded most current Graduate visa holders within the sample from their decision to study in the U.K. They remained confident in their ability to meet the higher earning requirements within their visa period. However, concerns were raised about potential negative impacts on the employability of Graduate visa holders if employers became hesitant to invest in them due to stricter long-term stay requirements.

Last year, the government disallowed foreign students not involved in research from bringing dependants to the U.K. from January 1, 2024. MAC said in May that the change seems to be having an impact already with early indications suggesting a 63 percent reduction in the number of deposits paid for the September 2024 intake by international postgraduate applicants compared to the same time in the previous year.

The government’s International Education Strategy of 2019 sought to boost U.K.’s education exports to £35 billion per year and have 600,000 international students studying in the country by 2030.

The Graduate visa route, however, involves paying high tuition fees and now has associated the drawback of not allowing dependants into the country unless students are part of a research-based programme. Besides, post-graduate students are allowed to work for up to two years only after their courses and PhD students for three years and this time doesn’t count towards settlement. They must switch to another visa route to qualify to settle in the U.K.

Those looking to immigrate may be better served by using the Skilled Worker visa route as companies in the U.K. are continuously looking for highly skilled employees, especially those who would be willing to invest in the employer company with correspondent benefits. Skilled Worker visa holders can also bring their dependants to the country with their children having access to free education and they will qualify to apply for settlement after five years.