Women to be mostly affected by UK visa curb, Nigerians top list
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Foreign female students will be mostly affected from January 2024 when the United Kingdom implements the ban on relatives accompanying students to country in the bid to cut down on immigration in a general election year.
Women constitute 69 per cent of students taking dependants to the UK.
Female students from Nigeria form a large chunk of international students, with reports saying Nigeria has been the largest source market for family-oriented applications over the past year.
The ban has sparked discussions about its implications for gender equality in education, as female students, particularly mature applicants, are more likely to have dependants and could face challenges in balancing family responsibilities with studies.
“While the vast majority of students will be unaffected by proposals that limit the ability to be accompanied by dependents, more information is needed on the programmes that are in scope before a proper assessment of the impact is made,” said Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of Universities UK International.
“We do know that any changes are likely to have a disproportionate impact on women and students from certain countries.”
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Genger angle to policy
Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank tweeted that “there’s a gender angle to the new announcement on international students, which is likely to get missed.
“A large majority of the international students who bring dependants to the UK are women.”
Hillman said he has seen unpublished figures suggesting up to 69 per cent of students who bring dependants to the UK are women, per Nairametrics reporting.
A survey of 869 prospective international Master’s degree students conducted by FindAUniversity in March and April shows prospective female students are more likely to be turned off by the scrapping of dependant visas.
“It’s concerning that the government may not have thought of these potential effects in designing its policy. It’s also possible that our data may understate the impact of this change, given that responses were collected before the policy was confirmed,” explained Mark Bennett, Director of Audience & Editorial at FindAUniversity.
“Whatever someone’s views on migration, it’s surely clear that UK higher education opportunities should be equally open to all students; excluding cannot be the intention or effect of this policy.”
Choice between UK Master’s and leaving children behind
Rebecca Fielding, founder of immigration consultants Grad Consult, claimed on social media that “International female students [will be] much less likely to travel if they have children. This policy will be detrimental to everyone, especially women.”
Dependants are currently defined as a spouse, partner, or child, but not extended family members like siblings or parents.
“No words properly express how I feel about this policy,” UKCISA Policy Officer Iona Murdoch wrote on Twitter.
“We have always provided advice for students who want to bring dependents to the UK to study can get detailed advice from UKCISA. It specifies the necessary financial requirements for an application, such as proof of maintenance funds, a health surcharge, and the right to work.”
Need for exemptions
Stakeholders lament the policy does not take into account current data or engage in forecasting, which will now seriously affect the opportunities for women to come to the UK.
Mature applicants seeking career opportunities in fields like healthcare have increased in their numbers as a result of the introduction of the graduate route visa, a deliberate UK higher education strategy to attract and retain graduate talent from Commonwealth countries.
William Burns, regional manager at Loughborough University, highlighted the impact for sponsored students from certain countries.
“The UK government must consider exemptions for fully sponsored students coming to the UK for Master’s study.
“While not impossible, it is difficult to imagine female Master’s students from Saudi Arabia coming to the UK without their spouses. And so their freedom to study here would be heavily restricted almost immediately,” Burns said.