For this visa route to "put ability and talent first", the policy would have to be designed to look for and accept evidence of those traits in whatever forms are available.
But this visa does not place ability and talent first, as most talented people cannot go to Ivy League and equivalent for other reasons, and the visa criteria don't accept other evidence of exceptional talent and ability. I have nothing against great universities (I went to one and have a poor family background), but access to wealth, historical family wealth, and factors such as race and country of birth play a big role statistically in who attends the top few.
As for "not where someone comes from", as the article notes the visa is entirely closed to people graduating in the countries of South Asia, Latin America or Africa. Regardless of demonstrable talent, those at the top of the league in the wrong countries don't qualify for this "not where someone comes from" visa.
In related news yesterday, an official Home Office report concluded "30 years of racist immigration legislation designed to reduce the UK’s non-white population". https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/29/windrush-sca...
Call me cynical, but I think today's announcement is another point on that trend line.
What you're pointing out — that individuals should be allowed visas based on whatever merit they can make an argument for — should be the obvious thing. Why it gets buried in these layers of sociopoltically dysfunctional nonsense is beyond me.
I would go even further personally in opening up national borders, but I increasingly feel a political anomaly. A strong state in my opinion should afford opportunities for everyone to demonstrate contribution, and only take that away when someone has become a demonstrated risk.
It's a bit sad (to me) that they limited this opportunity to graduates of the world's top universities and excluded disadvantaged/poorer countries as a result. But, such is life. I can't dictate to foreign countries and voters who or not they should let into their borders.
So whom are these visas for?
According to this list, only six out of the eight Ivy League schools [1] are worth applying to and apparently schools like Waterloo, Lomonosov State, and Les Grandes Ecoles, all of which have turned out some of the most brilliant scientists and mathematicians, aren't even worth considering.
[1] No Brown or Dartmouth in town.
Clicked around for a bit and age does not appear anywhere that I can find. It appears that a 40+ year old person could return to (an eligible) university for a second degree and then make use of this scheme.
Perhaps the cohort size is going to be too small for them to care.
Subtle dig across the Atlantic?
> The list of eligible universities from 2021, published online by the government, featured 20 US universities, including Harvard, Yale, and MIT.
> There were a further 17 qualifying institutions, including the University of Hong Kong, University of Melbourne, and the Paris Sciences et Lettres University.
> Some academics have voiced their disappointment that no South Asian, Latin American or African universities have been included on the list.
Heh, horrible Priti Patel[1], implementing in the UK Trump's "No shithole countries" policies.
People who graduated from a top 50 university probably won't have a problem finding a job/visa sponsorship anywhere in the world anyway, it makes me wonder how the UK think this will attract them.
The UK's current gov is firmly wedded to a delusional image of itself as a major imperial power of vast wealth and influence. Such is its majesty it is for ever in danger of being infiltrated and undermined by unpleasantly independent Europeans, who for some reason refuse to see the UK as the most important country in Europe. And also by nasty brown and black people from who knows where?
All policy is designed to reassure itself of that view. Not to solve practical problems.
In the real world the number of top graduates who will want to stay on with a two year work visa - and no guaranteed extension - is somewhere very close to zero.
There's no conception that other countries may have a more appealing work culture and a more open and successful academic culture.
As it happens, the university sector in the UK is currently closing many departments and firing and re-hiring many of its professors so it can cut their pay. As a result many are on strike and others have left.
Any student who is reasonably bright and considering the UK is going to know this.
Name me a party with a chance of winning a general election in the UK that explicitly commits to lowering immigration substantially as a key policy. There isn't one!
“The scheme follows changes to allow foreign nationals to stay and work in Britain for up to two years instead of having to leave after finishing a degree.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-changes-to-student-...
They claimed it was to get rid of degree farms where 'schools' can just get students to pay for a degree for a work visa.
