Aaron Porter and Christina Yan Zhang attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration round table event to discuss the impact of the proposed reforms to student visas on 2 March.
The group had produced a briefing paper, Student immigration reforms and their anticipated economic impacts which made the following points:
- International students generate critical income for colleges and universities across the UK
- Regional universities act as a regional economic hub, supported by their capacity to recruit the best staff and students from across the world
- A redcuction in international students would have a negative economic impact regionally and nationally
The note of the meeting on 2 March demonstrates how widely felt the issue is.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group also put out a press release on 17 March calling for an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed reforms to student visas.
The Home Affairs Select Committee on 17 March had also warned that a decrease in international student numbers would harm the international competitiveness of UK education, and called for an assessment of the economic impact of the proposals.