The UK government is set to introduce a new visa route for refugees granted asylum to study at local universities as it seeks to overhaul the current immigration system.

As part of outlined in parliament on 17 November, the Home Office will introduce what it calls a “core protection” offer for refugees – aimed at moving away from the existing system of long-term support.

Under the new proposals, which the government hopes will deter people from seeking refuge in the UK, individuals who are granted asylum will receive shorter leave to remain and face a longer path to settlement.

The government will also introduce a “Protection Work and Study” route for these refugees, allowing them to enrol in British universities.

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“We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary,” documents published by the Home Office state.

“A person granted protection will be eligible to apply to move into this route if they obtain employment or commence study at an appropriate level and pay a fee.

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“Once on this route, they will become eligible to ‘earn’ settlement sooner than they would under core protection alone.”

There will also be no automatic right to family reunion under the core protection pathway. However, the government has said that those who successfully move off core protection and enter a Work and Study visa route could become eligible to sponsor family members to come to the UK.

It added that the same conditions would apply as for other legal migrants and UK citizens. Under current rules, most undergraduate and postgraduate students on study visas are not permitted to bring family members with them to the UK.

In addition, asylum seekers will no longer be granted support, such as accommodation, in cases where they have the right to work and could support themselves. This includes those who entered the country on a student visa before claiming asylum.

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Policymakers have become increasingly concerned about the number of students seeking asylum in the UK, with international students making up 40 per cent of claimants in the year ending June 2025.

But the government said it wants to continue to accept “those who are truly fleeing peril” and will therefore maintain legal routes into the UK.

Under the plans, a new capped route will be created for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK.

The Home Office said this would help “talented refugees to continue their studies, realise their potential and be able to return to their country and help rebuild it as soon as circumstances allow”.

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The document references the recent assistance given to students from Gaza with fully funded university places to travel to the UK and confirms that support will be extended to dependants of those students “who can meet the relevant requirements of the immigration rules”. 

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com