As the UK Home Office unveils plans to attract the “brightest and best” individuals to the UK, Johnny Rich outlines how using university league tables as a proxy measure to achieve this goal is unlikely to be successful

Rich, Johnny

English

LSE Research Online

The	Home	Office	plan	for	‘high	potential	visas’	is	nomaster	cardAs	the	UK	Home	Office	unveils	plans	to	attract	the	“brightest	and	best”	individuals	to	the	UK,	Johnny	Rich	outlineshow	using	university	league	tables	as	a	proxy	measure	to	achieve	this	goal	is	unlikely	to	be	successful.The	UK	Government	has	announced	a	new	visa	scheme,	ostensibly	to	attract	the	“brightest	and	best”	graduatesfrom	around	the	world.	It’s	a	laudable	aim	and	any	new	immigration	routes	to	address	skills	needs	are	certainlywelcome.There	is	a	problem,	however,	with	how	the	Home	Office	has	decided	to	do	its	cherry-picking,	using	a	mashed-upleague	table	of	league	tables	and	top-slicing	the	first	fifty	on	the	list.League	tables	were	never	designed	for	the	purpose	of	deciding	who	deserves	a	visa	and	it’s	certainly	not	a	purposefor	which	they	are	fit.	Indeed,	this	policy	shows	the	same	level	of	understanding	about	higher	education	that	leavingfridge	doors	open	to	combat	global	warming	would	show	about	physics.Uni	league	tables	do	not	measure	whether	someone	is	a	‘top	graduate’	or	not.	In	fact,	one	of	the	rankings	thegovernment	is	proposing	to	use	(ARWU)	doesn’t	even	pretend	to	be	a	measure	of	teaching,	learning	or	graduatestandards	and	uses	no	relevant	metrics.As	for	the	other	two	(the	Times	Higher	World	University	Ranking	and	QS	Top	Universities),	which	make	broaderclaims,	they	mainly	focus	on	research,	but	also	have	scores	for	‘reputation’	–	an	entirely	circular	concept	whichlargely	measures	how	well	those	unis	have	done	in	previous,	equally	arbitrary,	popularity	contests.Uni	league	tables	do	not	measure	whether	someone	is	a	‘top	graduate’	or	not.League	tables	are	not	even	great	at	assessing	research	quality,	which	is	a	really	complex	exercise	(in	the	UKalone,	we	spend	hundreds	of	millions	on	REF	in	an	attempt	to	do	just	that).	There	are	biases	based	on	publishing	inEnglish,	discipline	spread,	age	of	institution,	and	many	other	factors	besides.There	is	a	large	body	of	research	on	the	full	horror	show	of	everything	wrong	with	university	rankings	that	isn’t	worthrehearsing	here,	because,	even	if	rankings	were	better,	they’re	not	good	for	this	purpose.	I	am	certainly	not	sayingthat	these	‘top	50’	are	not	great	universities,	but	rather,	what	they	are	great	at	is	not	necessarily	being	the	exclusiveproviders	of	the	world’s	‘top’	graduates.A	graduate	from	number	51	on	the	list	will	be	just	as	likely	to	be	a	‘top’	graduate	as	someone	from	number	one.	Forthat	matter,	so	will	graduates	from	hundreds	if	not	thousands	of	other	unis.Impact of Social Sciences Blog: The Home Office plan for ‘high potential visas’ is no master card Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/06/01/the-home-office-plan-for-high-potential-visas-is-no-master-card/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/And	of	course,	the	list	will	be	subject	to	whims	and	winds	of	fate.	This	year’s	number	42	may	be	out	of	the	list	nextyear,	while	number	99	makes	it	in	to	the	top	fifty.	A	student	might	start	a	degree	at	a	university	which	would	qualifythem	for	a	visa,	but	by	the	time	they	graduate,	they’re	off	the	list.Or,	they	might	leave	at	a	time	when	their	university	was	apparently	deemed	‘not	good	enough’,	but	it	might	latermake	the	list,	and	then,	even	though	the	student	got	a	supposedly	inadequate	education	at	the	time,	all	of	a	suddenthey	now	qualify.	This	kind	of	haphazardness	is	worse	than	just	arbitrary:	it’s	designed	to	give	preferential	treatmentnot	to	the	brightest	and	best,	but	rather	to	the	richest.The	scheme	will	exacerbate	such	privilege	and,	moreover,	it	is	in	effect	racist.	The	bias	in	league	tables	that	prefersolder,	English-speaking	universities,	means	there	are	no	universities	from	countries	in	Africa,	South	America	orlarge	swathes	of	Asia	in	the	’top	50’.		These	‘top	50	universities’,	of	which	two-fifths	are	in	the	US,	are	mostly	veryexpensive	places	to	study.	Add	to	the	fees,	the	costs	of	the	visa	itself	(£715),	resettlement,	extra	money	to	bringfamily,	and	so	on,	and	you	have	effectively	ruled	out	anyone	who	has	potential	who	doesn’t	also	happen	to	have	alot	of	cash.This	may	be	the	aim:	‘We	want	the	richest	graduates	who’ve	been	to	elite	universities’.	If	so,	they	should	say	so.There	is	even	an	economically	rational	argument	for	that	policy.	(Although	it’s	not	one	I’d	back	personally).Far	from	a	reasonable	level	playing	field,	this	actively	puts	UK	universities	at	a	competitive	disadvantagewhen	it	comes	to	attracting	those	students	believed	to	be	the	‘brightest	and	best’.However,	be	under	no	illusion:	these	are	not	the	brightest	and	best.	Some	of	these	universities	accept	studentswho,	apart	from	their	wealth,	are	very	unexceptional.	Yes,	some	of	their	programmes	are	hugely	selective,	butothers	are	less	competitive	–	filled	with	students	who	wanted	to	go	to	an	elite	university	and	had	the	money	but	notthe	grades.The	fact	that	being	able	to	access	these	courses	now	qualifies	you	to	live	and	study	in	the	UK	will	also	add	to	theirvalue,	pushing	up	the	fees	they	can	command	even	further.	These	elite	unis	will	become	even	more	elitist	andexclusive,	damaging	the	courses	in	the	process,	as	well	as	destroying	fair	chances	for	those	who	can’t	afford	them.Impact of Social Sciences Blog: The Home Office plan for ‘high potential visas’ is no master card Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/06/01/the-home-office-plan-for-high-potential-visas-is-no-master-card/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/Meanwhile,	back	in	the	UK,	this	initiative	is	damaging	to	the	wider	Government	interest	in	supporting	our	own	‘top’universities.	As	Richard	Adams	of	The	Guardian	has	highlighted,	international	students	coming	to	the	UK	(even	toinstitutions	that	would	have	made	the	‘top	50’	list	if	they	were	overseas)	won’t	enjoy	the	same	preferential	visaconditions	in	terms	of	having	employment	lined	up	before	completing	their	studies	and	how	long	they	can	stay.Far	from	a	reasonable	level	playing	field,	this	actively	puts	UK	universities	at	a	competitive	disadvantage	when	itcomes	to	attracting	those	students	believed	to	be	the	‘brightest	and	best’.	It’s	worth	noting	that,	through	its	ability	toattract	international	students,	the	UK	higher	education	sector	is	conservatively	reckoned	to	be	worth	over	£28.9billion	in	export	revenue.I	have	a	long	record	when	it	comes	to	criticising	rankings,	so	perhaps	no	one	will	be	surprised	to	see	me	opposetheir	elevation	to	any	status	of	supposed	authority,	but	even	Phil	Baty,	the	doyen	of	the	Times	Higher’s	rankingsseems	perturbed.	In	a	statement	on	LinkedIn,	he	said,	“I	must	say	that	this	isn’t	what	we	had	in	mind	when	creatingthe	rankings.”	He	added	that	the	scheme	“will	clearly	exclude	many	highly	talented	individuals	studying	at	greatuniversities	around	the	world	that	just	happen	not	to	fit	with	the	research-heavy	(and	resource-intensive)	focus	ofthe	current	global	rankings.”The	UK	wouldn’t	be	the	first	to	use	rankings	to	support	immigration	policies,	but	the	other	countries	that	have	doneso	tend	not	to	be	places	that	you’d	use	as	a	model	for	good	government.	It’s	a	club	we	seem	increasingly	eager	tojoin.	The	content	generated	on	this	blog	is	for	information	purposes	only.	This	Article	gives	the	views	and	opinions	of	theauthors	and	does	not	reflect	the	views	and	opinions	of	the	Impact	of	Social	Science	blog	(the	blog),	nor	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.	Please	review	our	comments	policy	if	you	have	any	concernson	posting	a	comment	below.Image	Credit:	Convertkit	via	Unsplash.	Impact of Social Sciences Blog: The Home Office plan for ‘high potential visas’ is no master card Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/06/01/the-home-office-plan-for-high-potential-visas-is-no-master-card/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/

The Home Office plan for ‘high potential visas’ is no master card

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The Home Office plan for ‘high potential visas’ is no master card

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