UK government Immigration White Paper explainer for international agents and counsellors 

It’s a government document that outlines the proposed direction of travel for policy in a particular area. It lays out policy proposals and plans for future legislation.  

On 12 May 2025, the UK government published its immigration whitepaper, titled Restoring Control Over the Immigration System, outlining a comprehensive overhaul of the UK’s immigration policies with an aim of reducing net migration which reached a record high of 906,000 in the year ending June 2023. A 20% drop to 728,000 in the following year was still 225% higher than five years earlier. Measures outlined in the whitepaper are due to be implemented over the course of this parliament and should offer a period of policy stability.  

It’s available via the following link: Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK.

Most of the changes in the white paper don’t directly relate to international students. However, they may still impact the friends and families of potential international students if they are in the UK.  

The Graduate visa (post-study work visa)  

The government have confirmed that the Graduate visa will remain in place as a flexible, unsponsored post-study work visa that offers international graduates the opportunity to work, or look for work in the UK, in any role or industry, at any skill or salary level. The only change is a proposed reduction in the visa duration from the current 24 months to 18 months for graduates of undergraduate and master's degree programmes. Doctoral students will continue to be eligible for a three-year Graduate visa, but this is pending formal confirmation from the UK Home Office.  

Changes to the Graduate route duration will require changes to the UK immigration rules. We expect that students starting programmes in Autumn 2025 will be eligible for the Graduate visa on the current visa terms (the 24-month post-study work visa), and that the change will apply to students starting undergraduate and master’s degree programmes from January 2026 onwards. We will let you know as soon as we receive formal confirmation on timelines and doctoral student’s eligibility.    

Changes to the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA)  

The UK government regularly confirms that it warmly welcomes international students to study in the UK’s world-leading universities. Minister of Skills, Jacqui Smith, confirmed this at Universities UK International’s recent conference when she said:  

To make sure UK universities are only offering places to genuine students who intend to complete their courses, the government has included two proposed changes to the UKVI Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA), in the Immigration White Paper. The BCA is designed to ensure all universities who sponsor international students are recruiting genuine students who comply with UK immigration rules, and that they meet compliance standards in their visa sponsorship activities. The proposed changes to the BCA are:   

1. Tightening the minimum pass requirement of each BCA metric by five percentage points. This means that – for example: 
   1. sponsoring universities must maintain an enrolment rate of at least 95% (increased from 90%) amongst their international students i.e. 95% of the international students that a higher education institution sponsors must turn up and enrol for their programme.  
   2. At least 90% of enrolled international students must complete their course(s) (increased from 85%).   

   3. Universities must make sure that less than 5% of students they assign a place to study to, have their visa refused (down from 10%).   

      These measures will encourage universities to make sure that they are offering places to students who are applying for the right reasons, and that international students get the support they need to complete their programmes of study.   

2. The introduction of a publicly visible 'red-amber-green' rating system, by the Home Office, to track the performance of student sponsors with their BCA metrics.   

UK universities welcome talented students from around the world. These changes will help prevent abuse of the visa system by non-genuine actors. Agents have a very important role to play in supporting visa compliance and universities will continue to work closely with their agents to make sure their processes are as effective as possible.  

UUKi will work closely with UK universities and the Home Office on rolling out a phased approach to implementing these tightened BCA thresholds, and on what constitutes each of the red-amber-green bands. These measures will not require rules changes but rather updates to sponsorship guidance for institutions recruiting international students.  

Agent Quality Framework   

The White Paper proposes making the Agent Quality Framework (AQF) mandatory in the UK for universities who want to recruit international students using agents. The AQF was introduced in 2023 by the British Council, BUILA, UKCISA and UUKi, and comprises a set of tools to enhance the experience of international students working with education agents and counsellors to apply to study in the UK. This will become a part of UK Visas and Immigration’s Student sponsor guidance which all universities recruiting international students are subject to. Most universities have already pledged to do this. Agents are likely to see an increase in the number of questions they receive from their UK partners who will need to demonstrate their compliance to the AQF.   

You can best prepare for this by ensuring that you have accessible and up-to-date records of the counsellors in your organisation, and their status regarding the British Council agent and counsellor training.  Also, if you use sub-agents, you will be asked for a list of these sub-agents, in line with institutional obligations.   

The government is keen to make sure that applicants to UK universities are receiving the best possible advice – and making the AQF mandatory is one way of doing this.  

Levy on universities’ income from international students  

The government is ‘exploring’ a levy on the income universities receive from international student tuition fees. The government would then reinvest this income into the Higher Education sector and wider skills system. A fixed fee or percentage has not been confirmed, though the technical annex of the White Paper uses 6% to model the levy’s impact.   

This is the only proposal from the White Paper directly impacting the UK’s Higher Education sector which would requires changes to primary legislation – i.e. it would need to be approved by Parliament. Further details regarding timelines, practicalities (such as collection mechanisms) and enforcement procedures are not included in the White Paper and will need consultation with the sector and wider stakeholders. We can expect more detail in the Chancellor’s autumn budget statement which we are expecting mid-Autumn.   

English language changes for dependants   

English language changes for dependants have drawn a lot of media interest in the UK. However, changes to English language requirements will not impact international students or the ability of UK Higher Education institutions to self-assess English language.   

The only impact will be on the dependants of international students (along with all other visa routes), who will now be required to demonstrate basic (A1 level) English language proficiency. We anticipate this will have minimal impact on international students coming to the UK.   

Those applying for the Skilled Worker visa will be required to demonstrate the same level of English language proficiency that international students are currently required to demonstrate  (B2 level, upper intermediate).   

Timelines for implementation have not yet been specified but these measures will require changes to immigration rules by UK Visas and Immigration.  

Universities UK and others sector organisations are working with UK governmental departments including the Home Office and Department for Education to ensure realistic timelines for implementation are set for each of the proposed measures and that these changes are clearly communicated to stakeholders and international audiences.  

Our universities remain some of the most international in the world, with 732,285 students from every corner of the globe currently studying with us – continuing a proud heritage stretching back hundreds of years. The social and economic contributions of international students are powerful and vital additions to our campuses, which we have shown through our #WeAreInternational campaign. The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Philipson, made it clear in a speech last summer that international students are very welcome in the UK. We are engaging with government on the development of a new International Education Strategy, which we expect in the Autumn.  

We look forward to engaging more with you over the coming months as we look to demonstrate to students considering a UK higher education that they are welcome to our safe, global, world-leading universities.