“Universities UK is working very energetically on a policy whitepaper with the aim of getting that out in September,” the Conservative peer announced via video link at the annual BUILA conference in Birmingham. “That will have a chapter on overseas students, [and] they’ve asked me to be the lead [on that] and chair the work on preparing that chapter.”

Willetts acknowledged that that new Labour ministerial team are “focussed”, “serious minded” and are going to be “drawing heavily on evidence” before making decisions on public sector policy.

Labour has already acknowledged within its party manifesto that the higher education sector is in a funding crisis, with the possibility of universities going bust high on the risk register.

This acknowledgement creates an opportunity for a “deal”, said Willetts – an opportunity for a “reset on international students.”

While the funding crisis may require a new “indexation” of fees to rebalance the value of domestic fees in line with inflation, Willetts outlined a series of recommendations that he will be advocating for in an international strategy.

“The UUK exercise will start from the really good work that MAC has done,” he explained. “My starting point is wholeheartedly and energetically implementing what MAC have said.

“Tightening the regime on agents and ensuring that agents operate correctly, don’t make wild and unsubstantiated promises, and there is a genuine academic minimum level of academic achievement required for getting to British university is a really important part of ensuring credibility in the sector,” he said.

While the MAC review was primarily focused on potential abuses of the graduate visa, the report made special mention of the risk from agents, recommending that the government considers “mandatory requirements” and “that universities be required to publish information on their use of agents to improve disclosure”.

Willetts went on to say he will seek recognition of the “very successful British export industry” in international education, as well as a “distinction between permanent migration and temporary migration, categories of people coming study and coming from work”.

He pointed out the irony within the previous Conservative government in deferring to UNESCO definitions on net immigration to include students whose course duration is 12 months, even when so many Tory colleagues had rallied against allowing international organisations ‘telling us what to do”.

Willetts outlined “a tightening of the relationship between universities and Home Office visa function”, which would create “greater confidence in tracking people leaving the country” and quell the panic about international students overstaying their visas.

My starting point is wholeheartedly and energetically implementing what MAC have said

David Willets, Conservative peer

He also outlined the opportunity to extend the UK student finance system to include British students wanting to study abroad for part of their degree.

“I think it would be a great if a minister trying to promote overseas students had in her or his back pocket the potential to offer loans to British students coming to study in those countries.

“It’s a very important gesture, and it also does make international university collaboration easier [and] enables the creation of alliances between universities,” he noted.

In a note of caution, Willetts warned a potential deal-breaker on support for international student numbers would be added pressure on public services.

Housing shortages and price inflation have been some of the main drivers of curbs to international student numbers in Canada, Australia and The Netherlands in recent years. 

“[There needs to be] acknowledgement of housing pressures and if there [is] anything that can be done, including plans for more student accommodation areas,” said Willetts.