Higher education leaders have claimed that the plans to cut the number of overseas
students’ visas could damage the UK universities. Nowadays ministers are discussing whether student visa cuts for students who arrive in the UK to take courses will harm the UK universities. The number of students from the European Union who came to the UK to take courses two years ago was 180,000.
The government has fear that some students are going to stay in the UK permanently. Ministers consider that students from overseas willing to study in the UK should be provided a higher standard of English and
essay writing . University leaders claim that such an approach could cause the disappearance of some institutions. In result, this could create an impression of not welcoming students from outside the UK.
Nowadays universities get 9% of their income from fees charged from overseas students – at some universities home students pay less fees than students from outside the European Union. By 2014, it is planned to cut government's spending review cuts for higher education up to £4.2bn.
The English language teaching association said that in case cuts are implemented, then thousands of students would not come to the UK to get higher education.
Toby Millns, chief executive of English UK, said: "They [fees] keep courses and sometimes whole departments open… they are in some cases vital to the survival of the institutions."
Damian Green, the immigration minister, said: "People imagine foreign students to be those who come here for a few years to study at university and then go home to work. That is not always the case. Too many individuals applying to study at below degree level have been coming here to live and work instead. We need to stop this abuse".
