An repair of the “out of control” immigration system will see tighter restrictions on the tens of thousands of students coming to Britain, says immigration minister Damian Green. In his first key speech since the coalition Government took over from Labour, the Ashford MP stressed the need to take control of the arrival of students coming from overseas. Figures published by the Home Office this week revealed 20 per cent of foreign students were still in the UK five years after being granted visas.
Last year, 288,000 oversees non-EU students were given visas to study.
“If we continue to have a fifth of each cohort of students staying long term we will have very high net migration numbers indeed,” said Mr Green.
He told KOS Media some used the student visa as a way of getting into the UK, while others were encouraged by bogus colleges. “What I want is to make sure every student who comes here is legitimate and doing a legitimate course,” he said.
“What we’ve seen in the past few years is an increase in student numbers and yet Home Office research published this week shows only half are doing degree studies. “Most people think foreign students come here to attend top universities, and of course these are the students we want to attract. “But the real picture of the parts of Britain’s education system that attract foreign students is much more varied, including private vocational colleges and independent schools.
“The foreign students attending various establishments may or may not be the brightest and the best. The next step is to look carefully at whether the course is offering students a proper qualification and whether the students are coming here to study long-term or just as a way of coming to this country.”
Mr Green said there had been a flow in the number of institutions opening in recent years. “I’m not talking about universities,” he said, “new colleges are being set up, especially for overseas students. Some of them are legitimate, but not all. We had some students from Libya who turned up to go to college and they found it was just a scam.”
Mr Green said 70 fake colleges had been identified, where students pay money, turn up and are given a certificate of qualification on their first day.
“The whole immigration system – not just foreign students – was out of control under Labour,” he said. “We need to get levels of immigration down and ensure overseas students really are here to study and will return to their country of origin at the end.
“We need to understand why a significant proportion of students are still here more than five years after their arrival.
“We also need a system which can examine effectively and, if necessary, take action against those whose long-term presence would be of little or no economic benefit.”
Mr Green said he understands the UK is the best place to learn English – with Kent in particular offering a large number of language schools – but he stressed that those who study in this country should play by the rules and leave when visas expire.
