Higher Education and academic research

Tightened immigration controls may put graduate courses at risk.

A fall in the number of students entering the United Kingdom could cause problems for graduate courses in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), warns Universities UK (UUK) in London, which represents more than 130 institutions. According to the Office for National Statistics, 8.2% fewer international students arrived in the country in the year to March 2012 than in the previous year. The UUK says that the drop may be linked to changes that make visas harder to get. Jo Attwooll, a policy adviser for the UUK, notes that UK graduate STEM classes have tended to include a lot of non-European students. “Immigration policy could affect the number of students taking these courses and thus their viability,” she says. (...) - Naturejobs, Nature 492, 301 (2012), 12 December 2012