Thursday 02-10-2025 - 09:06

It is quite despicable that international students are so often framed in public discourse solely through the lens of economic contribution or worse, portrayed through false narratives as part of the United Kingdom’s immigration challenges. Such framing diminishes their role to financial transactions; tuition fees, rent, and local spending, while ignoring their broader and deeper positive impacts.

In public debates international students are often spoken about solely in terms of economics purpose, tuition fees, rent, local spending. While these contributions are significant, they tell only part of the story. International students are not just numbers on a balance sheet; they are people whose presence transforms our campuses, classrooms, and communities in ways that cannot be quantified.

Every day, international students enrich the academic and social fabric of UK universities. They bring new traditions, languages, and perspectives that broaden our horizons. They challenge assumptions, introduce fresh approaches to problem-solving, and encourage dialogue across cultures. From cultural societies and food festivals to academic collaborations and everyday friendships, their impact reaches far beyond lecture halls. In the field of research, international students have driven groundbreaking projects in healthcare, technology, climate solutions, and more. Their work strengthens the UK’s global reputation as a hub of innovation and academic excellence, while also directly improving the educational experience for all students.

At the recent National Union of Students (NUS) Conference in Birmingham, this reality was powerfully acknowledged. For the first time ever, International Student Officers held a dedicated meeting with the NUS officials which birthed a working group to review the UK Government’s immigration white paper. At the heart of the discussion was the proposed reduction of the post-graduate work visa (Graduate Route) from two years to just 18 months.

The meeting also raised broader concerns: a proposed levy on universities that recruit international students, and visa restrictions disproportionately targeting South Asian and West African nationals. These measures risk discouraging talented students from choosing the UK, straining universities financially, and most worryingly depriving the country of the invaluable skills, creativity, and global perspectives that international students bring.

But this was not just a meeting of complaints, it was a meeting of action. Within days, an NUS-led petition against these proposals gathered over 7,000 signatures, a sign of how strongly students across the country feel about this issue. The call is clear: maintain the Graduate Route at two years, remove the unfair levy, and recognise that international students deserve better than being treated as “cash cows.”

It is also important to challenge the growing narrative that blames international students for the UK’s economic challenges. This is not only misleading, but harmful. International students are not the cause of rising housing costs, strained services, or wider economic pressures, these issues existed long before and are rooted in broader policy and structural decisions. In fact, research shows the opposite, international students are net contributors to the UK. They bring billions into the economy each year, not only through tuition fees but through living expenses, local spending, and taxes. More importantly, their contributions should not be measured by money alone.

By investing their knowledge, creativity, and labour here, international students have helped shape solutions to some of the very challenges the UK faces today. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the evidence and diminish their impact.

Our student association is fully behind this effort, and we encourage every student both home and international to add their voice by signing and sharing the petition.

This fight is not only about visas or policies it is about values. International students are colleagues, innovators, leaders, and friends. Their presence fosters creativity, compassion, and collaboration, shaping graduates who are better equipped to live and work in a global society. If we are serious about higher education as a transformative force, then we must support international students in their full humanity not only by accommodating their finances, but by recognising and celebrating the cultural impact they make every single day.

Crucially, this is not a battle between international and home students. The challenges we face are interconnected: when international students are undermined, the entire student body loses out whether through reduced funding for universities, a narrower cultural experience, or weakened research opportunities. Likewise, policies that support and protect international students ultimately strengthen the education and opportunities available to home students too. What impacts us impacts them, and vice versa.

To reduce international students to statistics is to ignore one of the greatest strengths of our universities: the diversity that makes them thrive. Together, as one student community, we must defend it.

To sign the NUS petition for 'Keep the Graduate Route Visa', please visit: https://www.nus.org.uk/keep-the-graduate-route-visa

Chinaenyenwa Ugo
Vice President SHLS
VP.SHLS@GCUstudents.co.uk