International Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students
Chapter 1: Introduction
1. In late 2011 and across the first
half of 2012, this Committee conducted a major inquiry which culminated
in a report entitled, Higher Education in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects (2nd Report of
Session 2012-13, July 2012).[1]
This report included a section on immigration reforms (paragraphs
215-39) in which we expressed concerns that changes to the immigration
rules may reduce the number of international students choosing
to come and study in the UK. Eighteen months on from expressing
this concern, we decided to revisit the specific issue of immigration
reforms, investigate what effect they may or may not be having
on international STEM students,[2]
and establish whether we were correct to be apprehensive.
2. International students are important
to the UK for a host of reasons. In their July 2013 publication,
International Education: Global Growth and Prosperity,
the Government stated that:
"Overseas students who come
to Britain to study make a huge contribution to our economy. Each
student in higher education on average pays fees of about £10,000
a year and spends more than this again while they are here. In
2011/12 we estimate that overseas students studying in higher
education in the UK paid £10.2bn in tuition fees and living
expenses [£3.9bn in tuition fees (net of scholarships) and
£6.3bn in living expenses]. They boost the local economy
where they study—as well as enhancing our cultural life,
and broadening the educational experience of the UK students they
study alongside."[3]
3. The Government noted in this
document that the market for international students had grown
sharply in recent years and competition from other countries was
increasing. Nevertheless, the Government stated that:
"We believe it is realistic
for numbers of international students in higher education to grow
by 15-20% over the next five years. For this to happen we must
show that the UK values international students, will provide a
warm welcome and support while they are here and will keep in
touch after they go home."[4]
4. It is against this background
that we set out to follow up on our previous report and examine
whether the UK is indeed providing "a warm welcome."
As Professor Finkelstein, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
Sciences, University College London, put it to us: the welcome
begins "from the moment they google UK Visa".[5]
5. There is some difficulty in defining
STEM subjects, which we identified in our previous report. In
this report, as in our previous report, we have adopted a definition
used by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This definition
uses the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) which classifies
all subjects into 21 groups. Within these groups, STEM classifiers
are: medicine and dentistry; subjects allied to medicine; biological
sciences; veterinary science, agriculture and related subjects;
physical sciences; mathematical sciences; computer science; engineering
and technology; and architecture, building and planning. While
our focus in this inquiry has been on STEM students, we note that
many of our observations in this report may well apply to students
across all disciplines.
6. We were well aware during our
inquiry that some provisions in the Immigration Bill, currently
before Parliament, were concerned with international students.
We briefly allude to these provisions in Chapter 3, but it has
not been the purpose of this inquiry to provide a parallel forum
for detailed scrutiny of the Bill.
7. We would like to thank everybody
who provided evidence to this short inquiry, both in writing,
and in oral evidence sessions, which we held in February and March.
We have not attempted to explore all the many and varied issues
which were raised with us; it was simply not possible in the time
available. Instead, we have focused on the key issues which were
brought to our attention time and again, issues which we may very
well return to in the future.
8. Finally, we are indebted to our
specialist adviser for this inquiry, Professor Sir William
Wakeham, whose expertise and experience greatly enhanced our work.
1 Available online: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldsctech/37/37.pdf. Back
2
The scope of this report is limited to considering the factors
affecting STEM students from outside the European Economic Area.
These are the students who may be affected by reforms to immigration
rules. Factors influencing the decisions of EU students to come
and study in the UK are not considered in this report. Back
3
HM Government (2013) International Education: Global Growth
and Prosperity. Back
4
HM Government (2013) International Education: Global Growth
and Prosperity. Back
5
Q 65. Back
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