Foreign students will be allowed to stay in the UK for two years after graduating, in a policy U-turn on post-visa studies.
International students are currently only permitted to remain in the UK for up to four months after completing their studies under rules that were introduced by Theresa May when she was the Home Secretary.
The new strategy, announced by the Prime Minister, is aimed at boosting the appeal of Britain as a university destination for overseas students.
From 2021, international students who enrol on undergraduate, postgraduate or PhD courses in the UK will be able to stay in the country for two years after they graduate.
A report published earlier this year found that foreign students who study at university in the UK go on to earn up to 50 per cent more than their British classmates.
Maths graduates from the UK earn an average of £33,100 five years after they complete their degree, while their peers from outside of Europe earn £48,600, according to the study by the Higher Education Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, Economics graduates earn an average of £37,900 after five years if they are from Britain compared to £45,700 if they are from overseas. In both subjects, students from other European Union (EU) countries earn more than their British classmates but less than those from outside the EU.
In both subjects, students from other European Union (EU) countries earn more than their British classmates but less than those from outside the EU.
The report, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), analysed data on the median earnings of UK and foreign graduates five years after they completed their undergraduate degree. Out of 21 subject categories, foreign students earned more than their British counterparts in all but six.
Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, said that students who come from overseas to study in the UK tend to be aspirational, hard-working and ambitious.
“You have to be a pretty extraordinary person to travel half way round the world to get a degree,” he said.
“We are talking about people who often have a lot of social capital, they are often applying to selective institutions and choosing to study in a language which is often not their first language.”