After the National Audit Office conducted its investigation and published its report in May, the Public Accounts Committee will now conduct an inquiry into the Home Office’s response to the allegations, its approach to identifying cheating and the actions it has taken to assure the quality of tests.

“We are pleased that a second government watchdog is now investigating this scandal”

“We are pleased that a second government watchdog is now investigating this scandal,” Migrant Voice director Nazek Ramadan said.

“We hope that this brings the tens of thousands of students who were denied the chance to prove their innocence a step closer to the justice they need.”

Ramadan added that she hoped the new inquiry will uncover more information following the lead of the NAO report and the APPG TOEIC.

“Both the NAO report and the APPG TOEIC inquiry have uncovered new significant information but also revealed how much more there is to uncover and the urgency to do so,” she told The PIE.

“I hope that the PAC with its additional power will expose more of the shambolic way this issue has been dealt with by the Home Office including more evidence of the administrative errors that have led to so many students unnecessarily losing their hope for the future.”

Stephen Timms MP, who chaired the APPG TOEIC, also welcomed the new investigation, pointing out its urgency in light of the evidence heard during the APPG sessions.

“Evidence hearings held by All-Party Parliamentary Group on TOEIC in June found that evidence sent to the Home Office by ETS was unsafe and unreliable,” he told The PIE.

“It is urgent that this issue is addressed for a large number of students who have been suffering a great deal for a very long time.”

This week, a group of students accompanied by Timms, delivered a letter to the Home Office urging the Home Secretary to make a statement on the matter.

The Public Accounts Committee is accepting evidence submissions until Monday July 8.