High Potential Individual: Issues with the Global Universities List

24 June 2022

The High Potential Individual (‘HPI’) route was launched on 30 May 2022. The route is available to graduates from top international universities. Individuals can apply to the route up to five years after obtaining a degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree (or higher).

What is the Global Universities List?
Individuals must have obtained a degree from an institution listed on the Global Universities List. This list features non-UK universities appearing in the top 50 institutions in at least two of the following ranking systems:

The list will be updated annually and the list of eligible institutions for the past six years can be viewed at the following links:

Each list covers the period between 1 November of one academic year and 31 October of the following academic year. When an applicant is working out which list they should use, the relevant date is the date they were awarded their qualification (not the date of their application). For example, an applicant who was awarded a degree in January 2018 should look at the 2017 list. However, applicants should bear in mind that they can only apply up to five years after the date on which their degree was awarded. In the previous example, the deadline to apply would be January 2023.

Issues with the Global Universities List
Announcing the route, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I am proud to be launching this new and exciting route as part of our points-based immigration system which puts ability and talent first – not where someone comes from.”

However, it appears that where someone studies does matter. The Global Universities List has been strongly criticised for its “elitist” definition of top university. The list of universities is heavily swayed towards Western universities and there is not a single institution from Africa, Latin America, or Southern Asia featured.

More than 50% of the institutions across the past six years were based in the USA. European (France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland), Australian and Canadian institutions also typically represented 20% of the listed institutions over the past six years. The only Asian institutions that have featured in the list are based in China, Singapore and Hong Kong. The geographic makeup of the listed institutions over the past six years has barely changed, meaning it is unlikely that graduates from institutions in Africa, Latin America, or Southern Asia will be eligible to apply under the route in the future.

In addition, the Global Universities List only features non-UK institutions. This means that non-British graduates who studied in the UK are not eligible to apply, despite potentially obtaining a degree from a UK institution which ranks highly in at least two of the ranking systems used by the Home Office to compile the Global Universities List. These graduates may be eligible to apply for the Graduate route, however, the provisions of this route are more restrictive than the High Potential Individual route. For example, applicants must be on a Student visa to apply to the Graduate route and can only apply from within the UK. The provisions on dependants are also more restrictive on the Graduate route compared to the High Potential Individual route.

Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.

Miglena Ilieva


Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager

Robert Greene


Paralegal


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