Immigration policy could end Britain's higher education supremacy for good

By James Pitman. I read with dismay the 40 Group of Tory MPs' suggestion of a cap on international students attending universities outside the UK’s top 30. International education is worth billions to the economy and creates thousands of jobs – some in these MPs’ own constituencies. Whether the proposal put forward in ‘40 Policy Ideas From The 40’ goes any further or not, it really does not deserve air-time at all.
The higher education sector has enough to contend with, with constantly changing and poorly consulted rules and regulations and the bungling of the UKBA/Home Office. It has shown great nimbleness in adapting to the “new normal” in which the government relentlessly targets one of the country’s most valuable exports as it tries to meet its pre-election pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands. Read more...