To study in the UK, overseas nationals are required to apply for a Tier 4 Student Visa and pay all of the associated costs, including international course fees and immigration fees.
In addition, prospective students need to prove that they have enough maintenance funds in their personal savings to see them through their course since, as a general rule of thumb, migrants without a formal immigration status are prohibited from public funds.
However, the rules are slightly different when it comes to migrant students who have residency rights in the UK. More specifically, some are able to apply for Student Finance – the (England) student loans company.
There is a long list of categories that stipulate who is eligible for student loans. And buried beneath the long list are those who have 'Settled' status in the UK. A person is considered settled in the eyes of immigration enforcement if they have Settled Status through the EU Settlement Scheme or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
The problem is, to be eligible for either of these statuses, you must already be ordinarily resident in the UK for a period of at least three to five years. And failure to secure ILR or Settled Status before the start of the academic course means students will not receive a single penny of Student Finance throughout the entirety of their course – even if they are eligible for it.
In normal circumstances (i.e., non-pandemic times) applicants wait for six months – sometimes more – for a verdict on their ILR application. This means most immigration lawyers advise their clients to apply for ILR at least half a year before they intend to study. There is the option to speed up the process through the Super-Fast Track Priority Service, but this is no guarantee.
So that students don't miss out on Student Finance funding – often considered a lifeline to students in the UK – applicants who are not yet eligible in the six months prior to their course may be advised to wait until the next academic year to enrol. Although frustrating, this is to spare applicants the heartache of missing out on potentially thousands of pounds while they pursue higher education.
However, Covid-19 exacerbated this already precarious situation. Reports have since emerged of students failing to secure ILR or Settled Status before their course through no fault of their own. This is because UK immigration services ground to a complete halt and were suspended in the pandemic.
Even students who had paid the £800 fast-track service fee were left to fall through the cracks and, crucially, without any financial support throughout their studies.
Fortunately, the High Court decided in early January this year that international students who were unable to acquire ILR through no fault of their own (i.e., because of the Coronavirus pandemic) should now be entitled to full Student Loans.
And while there were only a handful of students who were affected by the delays in 2020, the decision is a welcome one as it sets a precedent for students who may also have been affected in 2021 and even this year.
The news might come as some relief for international students who, according to one recent study, did not feel ready to start their course this year as a result of the pandemic.
As high as 72% of international students were cautious about embarking on a new course of study in 2021 according to a study by Ucas. After Covid-19 restrictions in the UK forced many lectures and seminars online, the newest cohort have been uneasy about what their year ahead will look like in British educational establishments.
Indeed, across the UK, universities that are typically a place of open discussion and excitement, were boarded up. Students from all over the world felt trapped and isolated in university accommodation as reports of guarded halls and strict conditions emerged throughout 2020 and 2021.
However, that fortunately hasn't slowed down the flow of migrant traffic with nearly 9 in 10 (88%) still regarding the UK as a positive place to study.
Brexit hasn't halted the influx of EU students either, as was first anticipated following a 'Brexodus' of academic staff after the referendum. In fact, undergraduate applications from outside the EU rose by more than 12% to 111,255 applications – a new record which saw 53,030 being awarded a place.
Yet when asked about what could deter overseas talent from picking up a course of study in the UK, 69% stated high tuition fees and living costs as their most pressing concern.
The High Court decision means that at least a handful of students who are eligible for the financial crutch of student loans are now able to seek the funding that they were owed in the first place, but for the vast majority of international students who are ineligible for ILR or Settled Status, they still need to raise the extortionate visa fees, living costs and maintenance costs themselves.
For the time being, EU students can seek some form of Tuition Fee Loan to assist with living costs, but there is uncertainty over how long this avenue will remain viable to future EU migrants once 'Brexit means Brexit' and reciprocal student schemes between the UK and EU formally end.
If all financial support systems are indefinitely suspended for international applicants seeking an education in the UK, the country risks losing its diverse edge and world-class status. The exchange of ideas and cultures is imperative to its survival – yet for as long as the Home Office continues to penalise and financially punish migrant applicants, even during a global pandemic, UK universities risk becoming shut off from the world and decreasing in value. Meanwhile, the UK loses out from a brain drain and skill shortage at a time when it needs all the help it can get.