Rishi Sunak has ‘fighting chance’ of cutting net migration to 250,000 as foreign student applications drop

PM Rishi Sunak has a “fighting chance” of cutting net migration to 250,000 — thanks to a sharp drop in foreign student applications.

January’s ban on overseas learners bringing family with them has triggered a “much bigger fall” than expected, Migration Advisory Committee chairman Brian Bell said.

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Getting net migration — which peaked at 745,000 in 2022 — below a quarter of a million would give an election boost to the Prime Minister and hit a 2019 manifesto pledge.

Mr Bell said of the graduate scheme fall: “It is going to have an enormous effect on net migration really quickly.” Universities have reported a drop of more than 50 per cent in foreign applications.

The independent committee’s report still triggered a Tory row, as it emerged migrants using graduate visas are earning on average £21,000 in their first year — less than minimum wage workers on £24,000.

Two in five foreign graduates earned less than £15,000 a year.

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Tory MP Neil O’Brien called the graduate route a “boon for dodgy employers” and slammed the committee’s report as a whitewash.

He said: “Work visas should be available for those who will come to do high-wage, high-skill work.”

Former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick also criticised the committee after its review found there was no evidence of foreign students abusing the graduate system.

He called for the route — which lets students stay for two years after their course — to be scrapped.

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The PM’s spokesman said: “We have already seen a significant fall, a 24 per cent fall, following the introduction of reforms, but he still thinks there’s further to go.”