In May, the UK announced the introduction of the immigration White Paper showed plans for a 6% levy and some changes to the Graduate Route visa (decreasing the visa length from 2 years to 18 months). Last week, Bridget Phillipson – the UK education secretary, confirmed plans to go ahead with the levy, set to be rolled out across England. However, Wales has announced that they will not be participating in the addition of this new rule.
Lynne Neagle told the Welsh Parliament, “We want our international students to continue to feel welcomed for the positive social, cultural and economic contributions they make in Wales.”
The impact of the levy on international students
The levy is expected to impact international students the most due to increased tuition fee prices (which are already high as it is) making studying in the UK simply unaffordable for some. It also acts as a tax on the income that universities receive from international students, hence why Chair of Universities Wales professor Elwen Evans said: “The introduction of a levy – effectively an additional tax– would have had detrimental impact on Welsh universities.”
Why the UK shouldn’t dissuade international students from studying here
The upcoming implementation of the levy has received criticism from sector leaders who say “the UK could lose up to 77,000 international students within five years as a result of higher international student fees” (Pie News data.)
According to Public First data, every full-time working adult in the UK is £466 a year better off on average as a result of international student income.
Why Wales decided not to include the levy
Welsh universities generate £1.26bn per year from the contributions of international students and researchers coming to Wales.
“The levy would have increased the financial pressure the sector is under, affecting universities’ capacity to contribute to their local communities and potentially reducing the number of places available for Welsh and UK students.”
“Today’s announcement is a clear message from Welsh Government that international students are welcome to study in Wales,” said Elwen Evans via Pie News on October 8th.
