Europe

NUS Scotland has hit out at the UK government after five Scottish colleges lost their licences to recruit international students under new UKBA rules. NUS Scotland and Scotland's Colleges warned the UK's visa rules were unfair to Scottish colleges and threatened the country's reputation as a study destination.

Sixty UK scholarships will be awarded in India this year to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the British Prime Minister David Cameron announced earlier this month. The scholars will receive full funding for a one-year Master’s course in the UK, starting September 2012. Over 1,000 applicants are expected...

UKBA has been criticised for ushering in the new Tier 4 visa system before it had gained complete control of sponsors (education institutions). The National Audit Office (NAO) suggested up to 50,000 students might have been actually seeking access to the jobs market in Tier 4's first year of operation.

In line with goals to improve foreign language learning in France, a new website has launched to help French children, teenagers and adults learn English. The englishbyyourself.fr service was commissioned for €3million..

English language teaching (ELT) ventures from the UK will compete against international operators for the first time at this year’s British Council ELTons – and the shortlist has been revealed...

A House of Lords sub-committee has called on the British government to make language learning compulsory in UK primary and secondary schools to encourage more British participation in the Erasmus programme. It also advised the government to “remain vigilant” about retaining the UK’s competitive position as a study destination.

A recent survey by Serbia-based Prodirekt shows that many parents in the Balkans would send their children to learn a foreign language overseas, regardless of family budget constraints...

INTO University Partnerships has launched a £100m investment fund to increase its collaboration with public sector universities in addressing higher education capacity challenges worldwide. The company could invest in a range of areas such as degree provision, marketing and distribution.

Six English language schools in Northern Ireland, all of which are members of English UK, have formed a geographical sub-group of the association with an aim of putting Northern Ireland more firmly on the map in terms of tourism and study travel opportunities. The group cites benefits such as low density of international students...

An investment management company in the UK has announced it is overseeing the completion of a new 328-bedroom accommodation complex for students in London and University of the Arts, London has reserved the majority of rooms...

A group of 14 London universities plan to use high profile events in London this summer, such as the Olympic Games, to promote the city as a study destination abroad. The LUIP collaboration aims to help London maintain its position as one of the world's most popular student cities in a competitive marketplace.

Cambridge ESOL has signed a deal with the Italian government to provide admissions tests in the growing number of Italian universities offering degrees in English...

The Spanish ministry of education today announced that it is accepting applications for scholarships to study another language this summer but the amount of money available is half of what was offered by the same programme last summer, due to austerity cuts across the board.

UK membership association, English UK held a fair in Greece last week, to help build business opportunities for members in south and east Europe...

Foreign students are not permanent migrants - this was the message delivered yesterday at a debate organised by UniversitiesUK. Panellists and delegates claimed that the UK's economic gains and soft power leveraged by international students were at risk by the government's pledge to cut immigration.