On New Year’s Day, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote on X: “From today, the majority of foreign university students cannot bring family members to the UK. In 2024, we’re already delivering for the British people.”
It was a reference to one of his attempts to cut the number of people coming to live in the UK, by changing the visa rules to bar most new international students from bringing family members with them when they come to study at universities or business schools. The decision sent shockwaves through educational institutions, prompting concerns about the loss of income from fees and the academic implications of limiting diversity.
The government’s decision has also focused attention on how business schools around the world say students’ partners make often unseen — yet valuable — contributions to the academic experience, both on and off campus.
For Oluseye Owolabi, a Nigerian MBA alumnus from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, the ability to bring his wife and child along was a crucial factor in choosing the UK for his studies between 2017 and 2018. He would now be unable to do so, as students can no longer bring dependants unless they are on a postgraduate research programme.
The rule change is aimed at controlling record net migration. “I understand the logic, but it feels like a step too far to dictate to families how they organise themselves,” Owolabi says. “For mature students, with all the stress you have to deal with in the MBA, you don’t want to add fracturing your family into the equation.”
Since graduating, he has found work at Boston Consulting Group in London, contributing to the UK economy.
Owolabi’s disappointment at the visa change echoes a broader fear within business schools that these new restrictions will harm international recruitment. The ability to bring dependants has long been a significant attraction for overseas students keen to study on campus full time. UK business schools heavily rely on international students, who account for upwards of 90 per cent of those enrolled on most top-ranked MBAs.
