Overview
- An open letter from 15 business organisations, including Business LDN, Tech UK and UK Music, urges Chancellor Rachel Reeves to pause or scrap the levy and to undertake a full risk assessment with sector consultation.
- University leaders have intensified warnings, with University of Manchester vice-chancellor Duncan Ivison calling the levy wrong and estimating a £20–30m annual hit that the institution cannot pass on to overseas students.
- London Higher estimates the levy could cost institutions in the capital about £220m, while new polling shows most London businesses view international talent as essential to competitiveness.
- Analyses suggest the policy could remove more than £600m a year from English universities, with PublicFirst modelling a first-year regional loss of about £480m in London if international student numbers fall.
- Ministers state the levy’s proceeds would restore targeted maintenance grants and say further details will come in the Autumn Budget following recent visa tightening, including a planned reduction of the graduate route to 18 months.