The UK Government has announced tougher sponsorship rules for universities recruiting international students, warning that institutions which fail to curb visa-system abuse could ultimately lose the right to bring in overseas learners, Newswire reported.
From summer 2027, all UK universities sponsoring student visas will be assessed under a new traffic-light rating system. Institutions rated “red” face restrictions on international student recruitment and must implement a 12-month improvement plan; continued non-compliance can strip them of recruitment rights altogether.
The new performance thresholds cut the maximum permitted visa refusal rate from 10 percent to 5 percent, raise the minimum enrolment rate from 90 percent to 95 percent and lift the minimum course completion rate from 85 percent to 90 percent.
The Home Office said the changes follow concerns that some international students are using study visas as a route to claim asylum or to enter the illegal labour market. According to the government, asylum claims from holders of work, study and tourist visas more than tripled under the previous administration, with foreign students accounting for the largest share — though student-route asylum claims have fallen 30 percent over the past year under the current government’s measures.
Migration and Citizenship Minister Mike Tapp said the UK would continue to welcome genuine international students but stressed that the visa system should not be used as a “backdoor to asylum and illegal working”. The government said net migration to the UK has fallen 74 percent under its broader immigration reforms.
The UK is among the top overseas destinations for Sri Lankan students, and the change extends a tightening cycle that began with the previous government’s withdrawal of dependant-visa rights for most taught postgraduate courses and continued in May with new rules to end Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for adult care workers — a route that had absorbed a wave of Sri Lankan applicants since 2022.
