Graduate visas No evidence system is widely abused, official review finds

There is no evidence of widespread abuse of the UK's graduate visa route, the government's immigration advisers have concluded, despite repeated claims from senior Conservatives that it is being exploited to enter the job market.

- Rajeev Syal, Richard Adams

The migration advisory committee (MAC) said the graduate visa entitlement - which allows international students to work for two or three years after graduating - should remain in place. Members said the risks of abuse were relatively low and were "not undermining" the integrity and quality of higher education.

The report's release has stoked an internal Conservative party row over net migration, with senior rightwing MPs describing it as a "whitewash".

Robert Jenrick, a former immigration minister, wrote that the committee's inquiries were tightly controlled by the commission from James Cleverly, the home secretary.

"The MAC's conclusions have clearly been constrained by the narrow terms of reference deliberately set by the government. If you order white paint, you get a whitewash," he wrote on X.

Neil O'Brien, a Tory MP who is an ally of Jenrick, also described the report as a "whitewash" on Substack: "We are pursuing an arbitrary target, and the expansion of universities for their own sake." Another Conservative MP said backbenchers were "piling pressure" on Rishi Sunak to ignore the committee's conclusions.