The Home Office have published a policy document outlining further details on how the UK’s new Points-Based Immigration System would work for both potential international students and international graduates of UK universities. The system will be introduced on 1 January 2021.
In the document, the Home Office explains how the Student route has been reviewed and streamlined to offer more flexibility for international students who wish to study in the UK starting in 2021.
Meanwhile, the new Graduate route, which will launch in the Summer 2021, will afford eligible students who graduate from degree programmes during or after the summer of 2021 the opportunity to stay in the UK to work or look for work.
This update offers great news for not only many current students at INTO centres but also those students who intend to start their studies in the UK with INTO during the 2020/21 academic year, who will benefit from these added opportunities.
Some of the key points of the Student and Graduate immigration routes may be found below
Student route
- There will continue to be no limit to the number of international students who can come to study in the UK.
- The government will extend the period of time during which international students can apply for permission to come to the UK from three months to six months before the start of their course.
- Students who meet eligibility requirements and wish to complete further study in the UK will be able to make an in-country application for further leave, regardless of their sponsor or level of study. This is a positive change for students graduating from INTO London and INTO Manchester, as students studying at these centres previously had to leave the UK to apply for further study. This was due to INTO London and INTO Manchester’s status as Private Sponsors.
- Limits on the amount of time students are allowed to spend studying in the UK will be removed for postgraduate-level study.
Graduate route
- Students in the UK who have successfully graduated from degree-level, postgraduate or PhD courses will be eligible to apply for the Graduate route.
- Students will be able to apply even if they spent some time studying their course outside the UK due to Covid-19 related disruption. There is a requirement for students to have studied their final term in the UK, and to have arrived no later than 6th April 2021, in order to be eligible to apply.
- The Graduate route is issued on a one-time only basis and is not extendable. Undergraduate and postgraduate degree students will be able to stay for two years, while PhD students will be able to stay for three years.
In a written statement to the Commons accompanying the policy document, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “To ensure our world-leading education sector remains competitive in a changing global market, we are refining the student route and launching a Graduate route in Summer 2021. The student route will be streamlined for sponsoring institutions and applicants, and the graduate route will help retain the brightest and the best students to contribute to the UK post-study.”
Download a full copy of the policy document.