New UK visa rules will put English language schools under the cosh
January 19 2010 by Liam Clifford
Language schools across the UK are fearing a large downturn in the number of students studying English on UK visas if the Prime Minister fulfils his promise of tightening student visa protocol.
The England of old is no-longer the draw it once was for foreign visitors; however what has emerged over the past decade is a strong market for foreign students wanting to study in the UK.
UK immigration estimates that 600,000 students come to the UK primarily to learn English; this brings £1.5 billion into the economy. Half of those learning English on UK visas carry on their studies in one form or another, in the form of further qualifications or higher education such as a University course.
This thriving market is however at risk from new tighter UK visa regulations, originally put into place to clamp down on bogus colleges.
Gordon Brown sanctioned a review of student UK visas at the end of 2009, in his first speech on UK immigration since taking office and in response to rising concerns over abuses of the system.
The new proposals focus on raising the level of study that students enter the country with on the UK visa points-based system and the level of English required to do so.
The result of this will be an effect on those students that plan to come to the UK for more than 6 months to get their English to a standard where they can then go on and progress their studies or careers.
The language schools' industry body, ‘English UK,’ says that the new system will exclude up to a third of language students that will come under the new UK visa rules, this they say will result in most being lost to Australia, Canada or other English-speaking countries.
Shane Wilkinson, from Bournemouth Business School, says the proposals could have a damning effect on his business and run contrary to the Prime Minister’s own ethos of connecting the UK to the global market.
"If the government goes ahead with the proposals ... then I cannot see how we could continue. We would lose more than 80% of our business.
"We are talking about the whole industry shutting down apart from a few schools running short courses for Europeans. I don't think that there is an understanding of the industry."
The Prime Minister will decide on the new UK immigration measures later in the year.
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