Recommendation 42

The Home Office plays a significant, even preeminent, role in the financial health of the higher education sector. This is because international students are heavily affected by changes in immigration rules. This influence came in for some strong criticism in written evidence, and we heard differing views on whether to include international students in the net migration target. We regret that the Home Office was not a co-owner of the Government’s recently published International Education Strategy, though the strategy did include a focus on sustainable international recruitment that linked to the approach pursued in the Immigration White Paper. The lack of a direct role for the Home Office reflects a wider issue of coordination between the Office for Students, UKRI, Skills England, and the different government departments that directly and indirectly affect higher education. (Conclusion, Paragraph 223)