The UK government has revoked the licence of 16 private colleges in its investigation into immigration fraud launched in June saying "If a college addresses the serious concerns we have identified, they may get their licence back; if not, we reserve the right to revoke it permanently."
The University of Bedfordshire is the first institution to be given the green light to resume international student recruitment following a six-week freeze as part of a Home Office investigation into suspected exam and visa fraud at a number of universities and private colleges.
Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridgeshire, has slammed the Home Office for its handling of the investigation into suspected exam and visa fraud describing its actions as "incredibly cavalier" and that it was “absolutely wrong to name and shame” the private colleges and universities without evidence of foul play.
International educators have expressed concern that the new visa threshold of 10% could disproportionately impact small colleges and that institutions might end up paying the price for refusals that are mistakes or subjective decisions made by the immigration authorities.
Universities and colleges in the UK may lose their ability to recruit international students if more than 10% of the international students they recruit are refused visas, the Home Office has announced, as it continues its crackdown on immigration and visa abuse. A discretionary approach will be applied to those schools enrolling 50 or fewer students.
The UK Home Office's decision to suspend the licences of 57 private colleges and circumvent international recruitment at three universities has sent shockwaves through the industry. Universities Minister, David Willetts, underlined this is "reputation-reinforcing" action as many impacted colleges are contesting the suspension.
The Home Office has suspended the licences of 57 private UK colleges, launched a criminal investigation into global testing giant ETS and suspended international recruitment at three universities, following an investigation that has concluded that around 45,000 immigrants may fraudulently obtained English language test certificates.
