Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson pledges 'international students are welcome in the UK' after Rishi Sunak's crackdown on foreign student visas

New Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson declared 'international students are welcome in the UK', as she said the Government would 'take a different approach' to the Tories.

The secretary of state sought to soothe concerns on campuses that the previous government's plans for a crackdown on foreign student visas could hit university coffers, which often draw huge fees from overseas learners.

Rishi Sunak previously announced new restrictions on most students bringing dependants as part of efforts to reduce record legal net migration levels - which Ms Phillipson made no suggestion would change.

But she did signal a change in tone.

She told the Embassy Education Conference in London yesterday: 'For too long international students have been treated as political footballs, not valued guests - their fees welcomed, but their presence resented.

'This government will take a different approach and we will speak clearly.

'Be in no doubt: international students are welcome in the UK.'

She said the Government would be 'committed to managing migration carefully', but added: 'My passion is for an open, global Britain - one that welcomes new ideas, one that looks outward in optimism, not inward in exclusion.'

Mr Sunak had previously been mulling curbs on graduate visas to ensure only the 'best and the brightest' can come to the UK.

A graduate visa gives a student permission to stay in the UK for at least two years after successfully completing a course in Britain.

But Mr Sunak was said to be considering a reduction in the length of such visas, or only allowing them to apply to elite universities.

He was warned universities will face job losses and even closure if he pushed ahead with plans for new restrictions.

Graduate visas are seen by some MPs as a backdoor for longer-term immigration to Britain.

In January, the Government introduced tougher restrictions to student visa routes in a bid to slash migration.

International students are now no longer able to bring family members to Britain with them, unless they are on postgraduate research courses and courses with Government-funded scholarships.