Student visa rules costing city millions - uni boss

Prof John Latham, vice-chancellor of Coventry University, said international students were being discouraged from coming to the UK

Coventry University's vice-chancellor has said the city's economy could lose out on tens of millions of pounds, due to a government clampdown on international student visas.

In January, the government introduced restrictions to prevent most international students bringing dependents with them.

Prof John Latham said the rules, coupled with political rhetoric, were discouraging students from coming to the UK.

The Home Office has been approached for a comment.

In introducing the new rules at the beginning the year, the department said it also wanted to stop student visas from being a "backdoor route to work in the UK".

It has asked a committee to review the visa changes, and a report is expected to be released on Tuesday.

'Chasing misguided headlines'

Coventry University said international students were worth more than £150m to the city and blamed politicians for a 40% year-on-year drop in international student recruitment at English universities in January's intake.

Prof Latham said it had had an "enormous impact" on the university’s finances and wider economy.

"The government is causing significant economic harm to communities like Coventry for the sake of chasing a few misguided headlines," he said.

"There is a perception that international students are a burden on the economy but the opposite is true as they spend money here and do not use many public services."

He said the university was a major employer in the area and supported many more jobs either directly or indirectly, adding that international students spent a "lot of money in the city".

Prof Latham said the university would use cash reserves to counter a drop in international student numbers

According to the Migration Observatory, in 2021-22 the university had one of the highest number of international students on roll - 9,845 - with just University College London and the University of Edinburgh attracting more.

Prof Latham said that the higher fees paid by international students helped support the education of UK students.

He added the university had cash reserves, which enabled it to adjust, but that it was having to accelerate its move to teaching abroad.

It already has branches and campuses in Egypt, Morocco and China, and is negotiating over future campuses in Kazakhstan and India.

When the changes were announced last year, then Home Secretary Suella Braverman said they struck "the right balance" between bringing down migration and "protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK".

There were 135,788 visas granted to dependants in 2022, a rise from 54,486 in 2021, and more than seven times the 19,139 granted in 2020.