Graduate Route Review: What Changed
The Graduate route has been reviewed, proposed for change, and changed. This guide separates the three: what the 2024 review found, what the 2025 white paper proposed, and what is now law.
- Section
- Student & Graduate
- Reading time
- 8 min
- Last checked
- 26 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- The route was kept. The 2024 review found no evidence of widespread abuse.
- 18 months for applications made on or after 1 January 2027; 2 years on or before 31 December 2026; 3 years for a PhD or other doctorate.
- The dependant rule did not change: a dependant must already have been a dependant on the Student visa.
- A levy on universities' international student income is proposed, not law.
The Migration Advisory Committee reviewed the Graduate route in 2024 and recommended keeping it. The 2025 immigration white paper then proposed shortening it, and a statement of changes made that law in October 2025: 18 months for applications on or after 1 January 2027, with 3 years unchanged for doctorates.
Background
The Graduate route opened on 1 July 2021. It lets someone who has completed an eligible UK course stay and work without a sponsor. In March 2024 the Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee, the independent body that advises the government on migration, to carry out a rapid review of it.
What the 2024 Review Found
The committee reported on 14 May 2024. Its findings, as published on GOV.UK, were:
- It recommended that the route stay in place in its current form, and concluded the route was meeting the objectives set for it in 2021
- It did not find evidence of widespread abuse, and concluded the route was not undermining the integrity or quality of UK higher education
- It expected the effect on the public finances to be small but positive, because most people on the route work, are young, and cannot claim public funds
- It said the January 2024 restriction on Student visa dependants was already reducing international student numbers, and that its full effect should be assessed before further changes were considered
The review is published as Graduate route: rapid review on GOV.UK.
What the 2025 White Paper Proposed
The immigration white paper Restoring control over the immigration system was published on 12 May 2025. On the Graduate route it proposed reducing the length of stay to 18 months. It also set out an intention to explore a levy on the income higher education providers receive from international students, with the money reinvested in higher education and skills.
A white paper is a statement of intention, not law. See our guide to the 2025 immigration white paper.
What Became Law
The statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 1333, laid on 14 October 2025, shortened the route. A Graduate visa now lasts:
- 2 years, if you apply on or before 31 December 2026
- 18 months, if you apply on or after 1 January 2027
- 3 years, if you completed a PhD or other doctorate
The length depends on the date you apply, not the date your course ended.
A later statement of changes, HC 259 of 9 July 2026, added a dependant: from 30 July 2026 a child born in the UK during your Student, Tier 4 (General) student or Graduate permission can apply as your dependant, without having been a dependant before.
What Did Not Change
- No sponsor. You do not need an employer to sponsor you
- Work. You can work in most jobs and be self-employed. You cannot work as a professional sportsperson or claim most benefits — see our work rights guide
- Eligibility. The course, provider and study requirements are unchanged — see requirements
- Dependants. A partner or child must still have been a dependant on your Student visa, apart from the UK-born child exception above
- No extension, no settlement. The visa cannot be extended and the time does not count toward settlement
Costs
- Application fee: £937, for you and each family member
- Healthcare surcharge: usually £1,035 for each year in the UK. GOV.UK lists £1,152.50 for 18 months, £2,070 for 2 years and £3,105 for 3 years
What Is Still Only Proposed
These have been announced or consulted on but are not in the Immigration Rules today. They are written here as proposals because that is what they are:
- A levy on the income universities receive from international students. The Department for Education has consulted on a 6% levy taking effect from 1 August 2028
- Raising the standard qualifying period for settlement from 5 years to 10 years
What This Means If You Are Studying Now
The date that decides your length of stay is the date you apply. If you complete your course and apply on or before 31 December 2026 you are in the 2-year group; from 1 January 2027 the grant is 18 months. If your course is a PhD or other doctorate the grant is 3 years either way.
Because the visa cannot be extended, the end date on the grant is the date by which you must have switched to another visa or left the UK.
Where to Check
The current rules are on GOV.UK. For the wider picture, see our guide to the 2026 immigration rule changes.
Related guides:
Questions and answers
Has the Graduate route been abolished?
No. The Graduate route is still open. The Migration Advisory Committee reviewed it in 2024 and recommended it stay in place. The change that has since become law is its length: 18 months instead of 2 years, for applications made on or after 1 January 2027.
What has actually changed on the Graduate route?
Its length. A Graduate visa lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026 and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027. A PhD or other doctorate still gives 3 years. Since 30 July 2026 a child born in the UK during your Student, Tier 4 or Graduate permission can apply as a dependant.
Is the Graduate route going to change again?
The 2025 immigration white paper set out further proposals, including a levy on the income universities receive from international students. A proposal is not law. This guide names the date whenever a change has been made law.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.