As former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham ascends to No. 10 today following Keir Starmer’s resignation last month, international education heavyweights have set out a list of priorities for his premiership.
From overturning the Labour government’s policy to charge VAT on private school fees– a policy that has actually been furiously battled by the UK’s K-12 sector, culminating in a thwarted legal challenge– to securing the Graduate Route, stakeholders have given tips on what they want to see from the new Prime Minister.
Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of Take advantage of Edu, published on LinkedIn urging Burnham to “treat global education as the export industry it is”– one worth some ₤ 40 billion per year.
And he stressed the need to “protect the Graduate Route and state so loudly”, cautioning that each review of the post-graduate work path risked countless international students choosing a various study destination.
Chaturvedi also encouraged Burnham to “go deeper with India than any PM before you”– India is presently the biggest sending market in UK worldwide education, with almost 100,000 visas provided to Indian candidates in the year ending June 2025.
“The nation that welcomes them best wins the next fifty years of goodwill, trade and talent. Make that nation Britain,” stated Chaturvedi.
Likewise, UKGuardianship and OxBridge Consulting creator Susan Fang said that the new PM needs to keep close ties with East Asia.
“In East Asia, love for Britain runs much deeper than any trade offer,” she stated. “Households prepare a British education on a forty-year clock, often across 3 generations. That trust took a century to build and takes one careless Budget plan to burn.”
Households prepare a British education on a forty-year clock, in some cases throughout three generations. That trust took a century to develop and takes one careless Budget to burn
Susan Fang, UKGuardianship and OxBridge Consulting
Fang posted a recommendation that Burnham reviews barrel on school costs, pointing out that over 100 independent schools had actually closed given that the policy was brought in.
“If full reversal is beyond your politics, develop a tiered system that spares the small. Eton College will survive anything. The 120-pupil town preparation, frequently the largest employer in its town, will not,” she stated.
She noted that global recruitment for K-12 schools has been down for a number of years, suggesting that “VAT was not the illness, it was the final stroke on a camel already on its knees”.
On The Other Hand, Manchester Metropolitan University vice-chancellor and Universities UK president Malcolm Press stressed that “universities matter”.
He said: “At a time when the nation deals with considerable economic and social obstacles, universities are identified to be part of the service. Through work on graduate employability, innovation and spin-outs, civic partnerships, and working collaboratively throughout the education environment, our sector is dedicated to serving the requirements of the country.”
But Press said that universities could only be at their best amid a “predictable funding environment”.
“We welcome obstacle and accountability. But we likewise require federal government to recognise and promote one of the UK’s terrific properties,” he said.
Nathalie Jacoby-Danesh, partner in the higher education group at the law office Browne Jacobson, said that Burnham’s federal government should begin dealing with worldwide trainees better.
“A good starting point for supporting universities would be to stop dealing with international students as a migration statistic to be managed down, however identifying they are individuals who select to invest in our universities, cities, towns and companies,” she stated– calling for the international student fee levy to be scrapped and for the Graduate Path to stay in location.
“This would supply an immediate, concrete signal that this government is major about supporting universities as part of its wider growth agenda,” she stated.
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