The UK government’s immigration reforms take a step toward prioritising high-skilled migrants but fall short in scale, clarity, and immediate impact, says Iain Mansfield

The government’s proposals to prioritise highly skilled immigration are welcome – the only question is whether they go far enough.

Since the pandemic, the profile of immigration patterns has shifted sharply towards low-skilled migration, while the number of visas granted to dependents has soared. This includes over 300,000 granted to dependents of those on the health and social care route alone between 2021 and 2023.

The number of international students has also soared, driven by one-year Masters courses at low-ranked universities. UK visas for universities globally ranked between 601 and 1,200 increased by 49 per cent between 2021 and 2023; whilst visas for those ranked in the top 100 fell by seven per cent. And far from paying their fees, studying and then departing, in the year to June 2023, 46 per cent had shifted to a non-study visa within one year, compared to just two per cent of those who arrived on such........

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