UK universities might have to stop recruiting students from “riskier” countries under new proposed visa compliance thresholds — with 20 percent of enrolments potentially under threat — although some have welcomed the changes as a way of weeding out “bad actors”. Currently, to sponsor visas for international students, higher ed institutions must achieve a visa refusal rate of less than 10 percent, course enrolment rate of at least 90 percent and course completion rate of at least 85 percent.

But in a recent immigration White Paper, policymakers propose raising minimum enrolment and completion requirements five percent for each metric to tackle “visa misuse”, including students obtaining visas with no intention of studying and growing numbers of asylum claims from students.

Gary Davies, deputy vice chancellor at London Metropolitan University, is wary of the new limits for visa refusals in particular, arguing that universities have no control over these decisions. “We will withdraw from any markets that look even the slightest bit risky because we have already seen greater level of uncertainty in the behaviour of the entry clearance officers that do the visa interviews over the last year,” he says.

Three institutions were placed on UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) action plans last year for failing to uphold visa sponsorship requirements. If universities fail to comply with the new thresholds, they could have their licences to recruit international students suspended or revoked.

Davies says it’s up to UKVI to decide whether or not someone is issued a visa and “they don’t tell us when they refuse a student. We worry that enforcement is going to go back to the culture of hostility that we had back in 2012 under Theresa May. Then most definitely, universities are going to have to review where they’re… recruiting students from and it will limit the growth of the UK’s sixth largest export.”

Initial estimates based on provisional Home Office data suggest that nearly 20 percent of total international enrolments could be at threat if these changes go ahead.

Also Read: United Kingdom: Universities rosy outlook