The UK government should stop judging overseas student applicants on the university they plan to attend, end the use of ¡°credibility interviews¡± and scrap the 10 per cent visa refusal threshold for individual universities, according to MillionPlus.

The association of modern universities outlines a series of proposed changes to the Tier?4 student visa regime in a policy paper, arguing that ¡°with the sector and government working in genuine partnership with a common goal¡± it would be ¡°much easier to invest in and grow overseas student numbers coming to the?UK¡±.

Critics of the É«ºÐÖ±²¥ Office¡¯s student visa regime have argued that applicants to post-92 universities are more likely to have their visa applications rejected?than those who seek places at more traditional institutions.

The current system ¡°does not deliver for the UK: it is unduly subjective, inequitable, and can act as a non-tariff barrier to trade in educational exports¡±, says the MillionPlus paper, published on 13?March.

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The first proposed change would see the introduction of new out-of-country provisional visas, issued by UK Visas and Immigration before a prospective student applies to their chosen university. At present, applicants first apply to a university before they are referred to UKVI.

In the second proposed change, MillionPlus calls for the phasing-out of credibility interviews for visa applicants, which it says are ¡°the main element of the current process that is most open to subjectivity¡± and?have?¡°seen the most arbitrary and egregious decision[s]¡±.

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And in the third proposed change, the group says that the current visa refusal rate threshold ¨C under which universities lose their licence to sponsor overseas students if more than 10?per cent of their overseas applicants are refused a visa ¨C should be abandoned.

¡°With the removal of interviews and the 10 per cent threshold, therefore, we are proposing that a context-based approach, involving greater dialogue between all parties concerned, would serve as a far better measure of compliance than a 10?per cent threshold,¡± MillionPlus says.

Under its proposed system, ¡°a?university would meet at pre-set intervals with UKVI to provide information on compliance and would be assessed on all necessary measures (be they refusal rate, enrolment rate, completion rates etc) in a more holistic and rounded way, which would put context and planning at the heart of the system¡±, the group adds.

Greg Walker, MillionPlus chief executive, said: ¡°International students contribute to the vibrancy and diversity of our campuses, support tens of thousands of jobs and generate ?26?billion for Britain¡¯s economy. Politicians and the public are united in agreement that international students have a huge positive impact on the UK in many respects, something confirmed by the recent Migration Advisory Committee report.

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¡°But rather than helping enable that growth, the current Tier?4 student visa system merely hampers it with smothering bureaucracy and over-reliance on credibility interviews that hinge on the subjectivity of UKVI and É«ºÐÖ±²¥ Office processes. These problems hit some universities more than others. This cannot be right: a reboot of the system is much needed.¡±

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com