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Reform UK claims it would renegotiate Brexit deal to stop resident foreign students accessing UK student loan system
(121 Posts)Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s education spokesperson, says today, Reform UK would stop foreign students who are resident in the UK accessing student loans.
In recent years universities have become increasingly dependent on foreign students. They can charge them much higher fees, and the income from foreign students helps to fund the teaching for students from Britain, whose fees are capped.
The Reform UK policy would not affect these foreign students – because they cannot access the UK student loan system anyway. Instead, the policy would apply to UK resident foreign students – e.g. EU nationals with settled status (permission to live in the UK granted as part of the Brexit settlement, because they were here before) and foreigners with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Explaining the policy, Reform UK said: "Currently, 270,000 - 300,000 UK resident foreign nationals access £4bn worth of taxpayer-backed student loans each year, many of which are unlikely ever to be repaid. At the same time, British graduates face long-term debt and rising living costs. This measure will save approximately £2bn annually." The party said resident foreign students from Hong Kong and Ukraine would not be covered by this policy.
As the Reform UK party acknowledges in its news release, stopping people with EU settled status living in the UK from accessing the UK student loan system would require a renegotiation of the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU. The EU would not give up this concession lightly, and any attempt to renege on the agreement could lead to Brussels imposing retaliatory measures of its own.
twaddle
Oreo
Tolerance has got us the country we have today unfortunately.
If Labour or Conservatives or even Reform were to at last get tough with rules around loans and freebies then it could only be a good thing.
I really fear tho that things have gone much too wrong to ever be righted.Do you actually understand why student loans aren't paid back? It's not that the graduates are defaulting.
Yes, I do understand why student loans are often not paid back, but it’s very kind of you to inquire.
These loans btw do become freebies as so many are never paid back, too many students doing the kind of degrees that don’t get them anywhere in life and they end up working in a shop or doing any job that doesn’t need A levels never mind a degree.
Could you perhaps list say ten degree subjects that you consider "don't get them anywhere in life".
I don’t do lists or links when posters demand them.
However we all know the sort of degrees and the sort of universities, having a degree in tv soaps and drama for example, gets you precisely nowhere with employers for a job with a good salary. I feel so sorry for teenagers that have been sold a lie when they aren’t academic enough to get to a good university doing a degree in the usual academic subjects.
They may enjoy the course and have a great time with friends but is that enough?This is the real reason that loans never get paid back to the government and this is tax payers money.
The 'real reason'? Has this been formally studied?
If so, there will be data.
Wyllow3
When many of us were young you could walk into a job within a week.
It must be so hard now.
Yes because we were willing to do whatever work offered, now we think we are too good for that work. I did it, most of us did but now we bring in migrants to do it.
Migrants are willing to do the work that our own young people are not willing to cross the road for, I have no sympathy at all for those that say there is no work.
Imagine being so bigoted that one ignores what a loan is and also ignores the fact that educated immigrants are a plus. It checks all the boxes for bitter Reform types, doesn’t it?
BlessedArt
Imagine being so bigoted that one ignores what a loan is and also ignores the fact that educated immigrants are a plus. It checks all the boxes for bitter Reform types, doesn’t it?
We have educated unemployed or under employed in the UK because the education system does not recognize what the UK needs.
So migrants have to be found to do the worker it doesn't get done.
Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.
* Polytechnics have been given University Status.
The time for students loans not being paid and written off is now 40 years. Student loans are also cancelled if the borrower dies or is permanently unfit to work.
Former students are not able to repay their loans during periods or maternity or paternity breaks, periods of unemployment or any other reason for a period not working- but of course the interest accrues during these periods.
Students leaving university now frequently over £50,000 in debt making the threshold for repayment much higher and fiscal drag by not raising repayment thresholds keeps the students in debt for longer.
For the 2026/27 tax year the income thresholds before which student loans repayments kick in are:
Plan 1- £26,900 per annum
Plan 2- £29,385 pa
Plan 4 £33,794 pa
Plan 5 £25,000 pa except for post graduate loans and it is £21,000.
A newly qualified nurse or teacher, needed in society, would have to work full time to reach the income threshold. If the nurse or teacher, at any stage in their career, has children or parent caring responsibilities and decides to work part time- or for how ever many years, they will not meet the income threshold, not make student loan repayments during that time and rates of interest above inflation will accrue. After however many years, if said nurse or teacher returns to full time work she or he will start again to repay their student loan with added accrued debt until 40 years after loan began. Said nurse or teacher may be reaching or have already reached retirement age.
The fact that not all students loans are fully repaid over a 40 year period, or written off- will include a large cohort of people- deceased, disabled and/or unfit to work, those who worked part time to support their families and those who have reached or gone beyond retirement age. It cannot be said, without any supportive evidence, that the sole or even main culprits for unpaid or written off student loans are those who choose a degree "that gets them nowhere".
BlessedArt
Imagine being so bigoted that one ignores what a loan is and also ignores the fact that educated immigrants are a plus. It checks all the boxes for bitter Reform types, doesn’t it?
No it doesn’t, it ticks all the boxes for some common sense.
Or non-sense.
Cossy your over long and rude rant at me shows me how very little you seem to know.
As for my comment ‘good salaries’ there’s nothing incorrect or wrong in that, it’s what every graduate hopes for.
Of course I know that poly’s were turned into universities btw.
Far too many students now end up unemployed or doing shop work that’s not well paid or applying for over 300 jobs with no luck as a graduate speaking on Radio 4 told the presenter recently.
How about
No idea where the how about appeared.
twaddle
Or non-sense.
We can’t all agree twaddle
There are many who would be better leaving after GCSE’s at school and others after completing A levels.
The young people I know have done better going to a technical college at 16 and learning a skill. By 21 they are fully qualified and earning a full wage, of the 5 that went to university all are doing unskilled work to pay the rent.
One in particular is very disenchanted because her sister who didnt go to Uni is now earning £40k - at 21!
Fifty thousand pounds in debt. Not easy for the young just now, who wish to study.
Oreo
Cossy your over long and rude rant at me shows me how very little you seem to know.
As for my comment ‘good salaries’ there’s nothing incorrect or wrong in that, it’s what every graduate hopes for.
Of course I know that poly’s were turned into universities btw.
Far too many students now end up unemployed or doing shop work that’s not well paid or applying for over 300 jobs with no luck as a graduate speaking on Radio 4 told the presenter recently.
How about
Apologies if you found it rude, I’m well aware of how difficult some graduates find it to get work, but many graduates do still have to start fairly low level in company roles, but are likely to go in at a higher salary than a non-grad, notwithstanding that they still have to learn their job role and the business, neither of which will have been learned at University.
Grads have found it difficult to get into their first role for decades, at the salary they appear to feel they warrant.
Just to be clear, my “overlong and rude rant” simply addressed some of the points you raised.
Why your obsession with low paid shop work?
My DiL graduated from a great Uni, her degree was biology related, her Masters was also biology related. She had no issues finding work in her related degree area, research, however despite her relevant degree in a strong subject, research is often very badly paid. After a few years, whilst still working, she completed a coding course and now earns more than twice her previous salary!
It’s not all “lowly” jobs which are low paid.
But thank you for feedback 🙂
My understanding is that foreign students actually help fund universities and the restriction on the numbers has meant that
educational establishments are struggling
Most importantly for those who are tempted by voting for Reform - if GB is taken out of the ECHR and Reform follows through with its policy of cancelling the Equalities Act that the most vulnerable in society will suffer. You have been warned
Feeback? I simply don’t agree with you.Shop work is what a lot of graduates from former Poly’s end up doing, no need for a degree or A levels.
From the Blair years onwards too many teenagers have been badly advised and let down by being encouraged into University when they simply weren’t up to it.It was one of Blair’s ideas that 50% of school leavers should go onto Uni’s.
A ridiculous percentage.
kjmpde
My understanding is that foreign students actually help fund universities and the restriction on the numbers has meant that
educational establishments are struggling
Most importantly for those who are tempted by voting for Reform - if GB is taken out of the ECHR and Reform follows through with its policy of cancelling the Equalities Act that the most vulnerable in society will suffer. You have been warned
Yes you’re correct but only foreign students from * other* countries coming to University here in the UK.
Anything to prevent them having to tax the rich.
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