Update on Chartered ABS lobbying

I hope that you have taken the opportunity to respond to our survey on the Stern Review. We will now be working to formulate our official response and will place it on our website in due course. This is an important opportunity to inform the review of the REF and having heard many comments over the last year about what is wrong with the REF, this is an opportunity we must grasp to suggest ways of improving it. We have left the survey open until Friday 11th March, so, if you haven’t already done so, please make your contribution through our survey.

Our work on international students has been a focus over recent weeks. Working in partnership with CarringtonCrisp we have published an important report on ‘UK business schools and international student recruitment’. We will be using this report to lobby the Government to reform the restrictions on student visas and to do more to help business schools and universities to change perceptions in the international student market that the UK no longer welcomes international talent.

We also joined forces with the UK India Business Council to hold an event on Opportunities for UK HEI’s in India. Thanks to UKIBC we also had a private meeting with the newly appointed UK High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith. This year is the UK-India Year of Education and he is keen to help build relationships and make a difference.

We know that James Brokenshire, Minister for Immigration, recently visited India and came away with the impression that the Indian press is becoming more positive about how welcome Indian students are in the UK. The numbers don’t yet bear that out, but we can hope there is some truth in it. Boris Johnson’s comments at the end of last year in support of Commonwealth work visas were certainly well received in the Indian press. Fortunately the Migration Advisory Council recommendations don’t seem to have had an impact. What is clear is that until the EU referendum vote there will be little movement in any direction on student or Commonwealth visas. These issues and many more will be considered by our International Committee, under new Chair Professor Nikolaos Tzokas.