Language schools plan legal fight against tougher UK student visa rules
March 17 2010 by Liam Clifford
English language schools are looking into taking legal action against new tougher UK visa requirements for students.
The legal action is a
response to fears that the industry could lose up to £400 million in income,
which could lead to job losses, as a result of tighter language requirements for
people applying to study in the UK.
The plan from industry body English
UK is to seek a judicial review of the rules that prevent foreigners with only
basic English from moving to the UK temporarily to do an English language
course. Studying English in the UK has been a popular option for many foreign
students, generating large amount of money for language schools around the
country and providing employment for hundreds of people.
English UK says
that proposing that students are already competent at English before they apply
for a UK visa to study English is “an absurdity”. It claims that as many as
100,000 students will be deterred from studying in the UK as a result of the
tougher requirements, resulting in a loss of £400 million in income and 3,400
teaching jobs. The organisation adds that universities will also suffer as they
recruit up to 70 per cent of their students from English language courses.
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