Calling Application for the Student Ambassador Programme

About the Programme

The #WeAreInternational Student Ambassador programme is a leadership development and education policy initiative for international students studying in the UK. This programme, run by UKCISA, connects ambassadors to a network of emerging global leaders.

As part of the programme, international students use their unique experiences of studying in the UK to influence policies and help create a more inclusive and high-quality student community. Through first-hand insight, ambassadors contribute to shaping a world-class international student experience.

Ambassadors will gain essential policy knowledge and leadership skills, enabling them to advocate for positive change based on their experiences in the UK. By joining the #WeAreInternational Student Ambassador team, you will play an active role in ensuring the UK remains a top destination for international students.

Find out more about the current ambassadors, their achievements, and how the network operates here.

Ambassadors will participate in activities that focus on four key areas: Read more here.

How to Apply

Eligibility Criteria

To apply, you must meet the following criteria. Applications that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted:

You must be 18 or older when applications close at 9:00 AM (UK time) on Monday, 28 October 2024.

You must be a current EU or international student at a UK education institution and will graduate in or after summer 2025.

Qualities and Experience

We are seeking driven and passionate individuals who want to make a significant impact on student representation and influence policy in the UK education sector. Ideal candidates should:

Clearly explain how they aim to enhance the international student experience in the UK through representation and policy advocacy.

Show a genuine interest in learning about education policy and how to influence change.

Be dedicated to building strong networks and contributing to the development of their institution, UKCISA, and the wider education sector.

Be willing to engage with UKCISA beyond the ambassador programme.

Likely be in the early or middle stages of study and have examples of leadership or student representation experience.

We especially encourage applications from students who:

Are studying in further education, foundation, or PhD courses.

Attend institutions in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

What are Student Representation and Policy Influence?

Student Representation: Ambassadors represent international students by actively participating in decision-making at their institution and within national policy discussions. They will gather feedback from peers, propose solutions, and collaborate with the education sector to drive improvements.

Influencing Policy: Ambassadors will engage in discussions, debates, and idea-sharing to advocate for changes in government and education policies.

For more insight, we recommend reviewing the #WeAreInternational Student Charter, which outlines how ambassadors can influence policy and represent student interests. The charter offers guidance on ensuring a world-class experience from pre-arrival to post-graduation.

The Application Process

There are four stages to becoming a #WeAreInternational Student Ambassador. Learn more here.

Important Update: Immigration Rule Changes for Students, Sept 2024

The Home Office has issued a statement announcing changes to the UK Immigration Rules, published on 10 Sept 2024. These updates will be rolled out across late 2024 and early 2025, with specific effective dates detailed below.

We will be updating relevant sections of our website to reflect these changes shortly. Please note, that Home Office guidance related to these updates may not be available until the changes take effect or shortly thereafter. Therefore, our website may be temporarily out of date after the changes come into force. Where necessary, we have provided links to current information, so you can monitor for any updates.

Student Route

For applications submitted on or after 2 January 2025, the financial requirements for Students will change. For further details, please refer to our recent news update.

Part 9 (General Grounds for Refusal)

For applications made on or after 8 Oct 2024, medical reasons that currently require refusal to enter the UK will also apply to entry clearance applications. Additional changes affect applicants refused entry for reasons of deception or non-compliance with visa conditions. From 8 October 2024, applicants must be at least 18 years old at the time of the breach for it to be considered a violation of immigration laws.

Visitors

New rules now require Jordanian nationals traveling to the UK as visitors to obtain a visa before arriving, effective immediately from 3pm (UK time) on 10 Sept 2024. Jordanian nationals who had already received an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), had confirmed bookings prior tobefore 3pm on 10 September, and plan to travel before 3pm on 8 Oct 2024, may still enter the UK without a visa.

Electronic Travel Authorizations

Jordanian nationals are no longer eligible to obtain an ETA and must now apply for a visa when traveling to the UK as either a Visitor or Creative Worker. This change took effect from 3pm (UK time) on 10 Sept 2024. However, if you were issued an ETA before this time and are traveling by 8 Oct 2024, you may still use your ETA to enter the UK.

From 8 October 2024, the list of nationalities requiring an ETA to enter the UK will be expanded, affecting applications submitted on or after this date. This new list will be published in a new Appendix ETA National list, and two groups of countries will be added—one from 8 Jan 2025, and the other from 2 April 2025.

Additionally, two new reasons for refusal have been added to the rules, as outlined in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes (para 5.11).

Appendix Children

For applications made on or after 8 Oct 2024, changes to the requirement for parental consent will apply to applicants under 18 who are not applying as dependent children. The new rules specify that parental or legal guardian consent must actively approve the applicant’s immigration application, travel, living arrangements, and reception in the UK.

Also, applicants aged 18 or older applying under this appendix can only do so if their last permission was as a dependent child of their parent(s), and that permission is either still valid or expired no more than 14 days before the new application. This does not apply to those over 18 applying as a dependent child under Appendix Bereaved Partner or Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse.

Miscellaneous Changes

As part of the caseworking process, the Home Office uses OANDA, a currency conversion website, to convert currencies into GBP. For Mongolian Tugrik, OANDA does not provide an exchange rate, so caseworkers will use the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office consular exchange rate (FCDO CER) for all applications from 8 October 2024 onward.

If you’d like to stay informed on immigration rule changes affecting students, you can subscribe to our student newsletter. This monthly email includes updates on immigration, fees, and advocacy efforts to improve the international student experience in the UK.

For personalized advice, contact our student advice line at +44 20 7788 9214, available Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) from 13:00 to 16:00 (UK time). Be aware that your service provider may charge for the call, and the line is often very busy, so please redial if you encounter a busy signal, as there is no queuing system.

#UKImmigration #StudentVisaUpdate #ImmigrationRules2024 #UKVisaChanges #InternationalStudents #HomeOfficeUpdates #StudyInTheUK #VisaRequirements #TravelToUK #StudentRouteChanges #VisitorVisaUK #ETARules #UKVisa

UK Tightens Financial Rules for International Students Starting in 2025

International students planning to study in UK will face higher financial requirements from January 2025, following new rules announced by UK Home Office.

The changes, revealed on Sept 10, 2024, will raise the savings students must demonstrate when applying for a visa. Under the updated guidelines, students aiming to study in London will need to show saving proof of £1,483 per month. Those studying outside London must prove they have £1,136 per month. These new amounts are an increase from the current requirement of £1,334 per month for London-based students and £1,023 for students outside London.

These changes are tied to the maintenance loans available for domestic students, though the amounts have not been adjusted since 2020. The UK Home Office has confirmed that the financial requirements will now be regularly reviewed to keep pace with inflation and adjustments to domestic maintenance loans.

For students on 9-month course, this will mean proving a total of £13,348 in savings if studying in London. However, if students have paid a deposit on their accommodation, they can deduct this amount from the required proof of funds. Additionally, students who have lived in the UK for at least 12 months on another visa route will be exempt from providing evidence of savings.

This increase in financial requirements comes alongside other rising costs for international students, such as the NHS surcharge, which will increase to £776 per year from Feb 2024. Combined with tuition fees and visa costs, the financial burden on international students continues to grow, although the UK remains a popular study destination. These changes will apply to students submitting visa applications on or after Jan 2, 2025.

Postgraduate Education in the UK - Analysis 2016 to 2022

Looking at how the UK postgraduate landscape has changed since the previous report was published a decade ago, this new report uses previously unpublished data to reveal the state of UK postgraduate education in the years before the Covid-19 crisis struck.

The analysis considers how postgraduate education was affected by the great recession of 2008 as well as at the successful implementation of student loans for home and EU postgraduate students from 2016/17 onwards.

The top 20 key findings in the report are listed below.

1. There were 566,555 postgraduate students in 2017/18, of which 356,996 (63%) were in their first year – up by 16% since 2008/09 (p.22 and Table 2.1).
2. Two-thirds (65%) of new postgraduates are studying for Master’s degrees, 10% are taking doctorates or other research degrees, 7% are doing teacher training and the rest (18%) a range of diplomas, certificates, professional qualifications and modules (Figure 2.1).
3. The most popular discipline is Business & Administrative Studies (20%), followed by Education (14%) and Subjects Allied to Medicine (12%). Research postgraduates (64%) are more likely to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) but most taught postgraduates (68%) take non-STEM subjects (Table 2.2 and pp.26-27).
4. Just over half of new UK-domiciled postgraduates (53%) study full-time, reversing past trends favouring part-time study – back in 2008/09, most postgraduates (59%) were part-time students (Table 2.4 and pp.32-33).
5. More than half (60%) of new postgraduate students at UK institutions come from the UK, while one-third (32%) come from outside the EU and 8% come from EU countries. The majority of Master’s students (53%) come from outside the UK (Table 2.5 and Table 2.6).
6. Between 2008/09 and 2017/18, UK-domiciled postgraduate entrants increased by 10% but students from overseas grew faster: EU-domiciled student numbers increased by 11% and non-EU international students grew by 33% (Table 3.2).
7. Since the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, the number of new postgraduate students from EU countries has fallen(by 2% in 2017/18 and another 2% in 2018/19), but the reduction in the value of the pound contributed to a 10% increase in non-EU postgraduate starters in 2017/18 (Figure 3.14, p.81 and Figure 3.10).
8. Chinese students formed 38% of the non-EU postgraduate cohort by 2017/18. Such heavy reliance on a single country exposes universities to greater risk from geo-political events (p.84 and Table 3.3).
9. The introduction of £10,000 Master’s loans for home / EU students in 2016 had a big positive impact: UK-domiciled student numbers grew by 29% in one year and by 59% among those from the most disadvantaged areas. The loans have also encouraged above-inflation fee increases (Figure 2.22, Figure 3.11, p.80 and Table 5.3).
10. The number of people taking Taught Master’s courses grew by 30% from 2008/09 to 2017/18, but the total has been volatile, particularly among UK students. Among all new postgraduates, justover half (51%) were full-time Taught Master’s students in 2017/18 (Table 3.1 and p.23).
11. The great recession following the 2007/08 financial crash witnessed a marked rise in Master’s take-up, as employment opportunities were restricted and people brought forward their plans to study (Figure 3.12).
12. The female:male ratio among new postgraduates is 60:40, or 62:38 among UK-domiciled students alone. This reflects greater female participation over time – in 2008/09, the overall female:male ratio was 55:45 (p.40 and Figure 2.12).
13. The gender ratio varies considerably by discipline: women are in a big majority in Subjects Allied to Medicine (77%), Veterinary Sciences (72%) and Education (70%) and men are in a big majority in Engineering & Technology (78%), Computer Science (76%) and Mathematics (71%). Males outnumber females among PhD researchers (51%) (Table 2.7 and Figure 2.13).
14. The proportion of postgraduate students aged under 30 has grown from 52% to 57% since 2008/09, reflecting a broader decline in people accessing lifelong learning opportunities (Figure 2.18 and p.48).
15. White men, particularly disadvantaged White men, are less likely to undertake postgraduate study than others. Among UK-domiciled postgraduate entrants from the poorest areas, 64% are women and 36% are men (Table 2.9 and Figure 2.24).
16. Women have a bigger boost to their earnings from postgraduate study, earning 28% more than women with only undergraduate degrees – the comparable figure for men is 12%. But women with postgraduate qualifications still earn 14% less on average than men with the same level of qualifications (Table 5.4 and p.120).
17. In the last crash, employment among those with postgraduate qualifications was slower to fall and faster to recover than for those with only a first degree, which may signal how the labour market will respond to the current Covid-19 crisis (Figure 5.11).
18. The abolition of post-study work visas (announced in 2011 and implemented in 2012) had a negative impact on demand for postgraduate study, most notably within India. The announcement that this policy is to be reversed is welcome but needs communicating quickly and clearly (Figure 3.15).
19. Transnational education, where people take UK qualifications abroad, has seen substantial growth, more than doubling since 2007/08 to 127,825 postgraduates in 2017/18 and overtaking the number of overseas postgraduate students in the UK (p.58 and Table 2.11).
20. Demand for postgraduate education is likely to grow over the long term: there could be an additional 22,750 undergraduates moving directly to postgraduate study by 2030 in England alone. While Brexit could mean a drop of around 11,500 EU postgraduates, successful implementation of the UK Government’s International Education Strategycould see an increase of 53,000 in other overseas postgraduates by 2030, although this partly depends on how the world recovers from the current Covid-19 crisis (pp.131-133).

The Report is by HEPI - The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

The Graduate route is open Today - Post study work visa 2021

The immigration rules were updated this morning to launch the long-awaited Graduate route, which opened for applications at 9am today.

The Graduate route is a new work route for those who have a degree or other relevant qualification from an approved UK Higher Education provider. Applications opened on 1 July 2021. Your application does not need sponsorship or any endorsement by an employer or by your university. It is similar to the old Tier 1 Post-Study Work visa route that ended in 2012.

Most successful applicants can stay for two years under the Graduate route. PhD graduates can stay for three years (The older Doctorate Extension Scheme is closed now and will be replaced by the new Graduate route.)

The new Skilled Worker visa will (Formerly Tier 2 work Visa) include some changes, mostly beneficial and helpful for students who wish to work after studies.

All immigration applications normally will include an immigration health surcharge at £624 per year.