Thursday 12 September 2019

Maddalaine Ansell, Director Education Policy Unit, British Council said:

"The British Council strongly welcomes today’s announcement of a new immigration route that will give international students more time to find skilled work after they graduate.  We have long recognised the enormous economic and socio-cultural benefits that international students bring to the UK. This new immigration route will also support the UK's ambitions to increase the number of international students studying in the UK each year to 600,000 by 2030.

There is nothing more powerful in cultural relations than people from around the world coming to work and study in the UK.  They return home with positive attitudes towards the UK and are more likely to visit us, trade with us and, if they end up in positions of power, support us in the international arena."

-ENDS-

About the British Council

 The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. britishcouncil.org