Cambridge colleges repeat UK student visa concerns

December 01 2009 by Liam Clifford

Cambridge colleges join Oxford in denouncing new plans for UK visas for students.

Cambridge college principals have spoken out to voice their concerns about the money potentially lost in the city if student visa rules change.

Following a similar warning from Oxford-based language schools, their counterparts in one of the UK’s other academic centres have echoed the worries. People running language schools in Cambridge claim the industry is worth £78 million to the city and, if changes to the student UK visa rules take place, this could be threatened.

A review of the system may conclude that student visas should only be awarded to people studying for higher qualifications, and to those who can already speak good English. This would force English language students to study in the US, Canada or Australia instead of the UK.

Cambridge alone has 22 language schools and thousands of language students study in the city each year, with most living with families while they do so.

A petition has now been posted to Downing Street containing 5,500 signatures. It is calling for the government to “abandon attempts to restrict international students’ access to the best educational system in the world and a UK visa through the review of the points-based system”.

See the latest Immigration News