LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The United Kingdom (UK) government’s toughening of immigration policy for overseas university students risks weakening the higher education sector and could hit recruitment and investment, business leaders warned on Thursday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his ruling Conservatives have unveiled a raft of measures to crack down on record levels of migration — a key battleground in the upcoming general election.

They include preventing overseas students from bringing family members and a ban on transferring from a student to a work visa after their courses end.

UK universities, whose budgets depend on the higher tuition fees paid by overseas students, have been especially critical of the measures, warning of a dip in applications.

But multi-nationals which have invested in the UK also said government migration policy risked weakening cutting-edge research and innovation, and the pool of talent they rely on for recruitment.

“We are deeply concerned by reports of growing research and teaching funding gaps, as well as sharp declines in international student applications as a result of government policy,” they said in an open letter.

“This not only risks undermining the positive impact that international students have on our skills base, future workforce, and international influence but also reduces the funding that universities have available for their wider activities, including research and collaboration with industry…

“Over time, financial pressures could undermine one of the UK’s greatest strategic strengths with wide-ranging implications for businesses, as well as the wider economy and society,” they added.

Senior executives at German industrial giant Siemens, French defence company Thales, miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto, utility Severn Trent, and energy companies EDF and Neptune, signed the letter.

No changes to graduate visa routes should be taken “without a detailed and comprehensive review of the consequences,” they added.

This week the government’s own migration advisory body recommended keeping a scheme that allows foreign students to live and work in the UK for up to two years after graduating.

But Sunak is under pressure from right-wingers in his ruling Conservative party, who say student visas are being used as a “backdoor” to securing work in the UK, especially in unskilled jobs.

The government last month said there had been a reduction of nearly 80 per cent in the number of dependents accompanying students to the UK in the first three months of the year.

Overseas student visa applications in the same period fell by more than 26,000 compared to 2023.