UK ministers review UK student visas system after concerns are raised
July 29 2009 by Mark Johnstone
Lord Mandelson on UK student visas
Business secretary, Lord Mandelson, has announced that ministers will be reviewing the new Tier 4 system for UK student visa applications as a result of concerns raised by universities.
Educational institutions have been largely opposed to the Tier 4 system since it was introduced earlier this year. They claim that the high level of UK visa rejections is putting foreign students off of applying to study in the UK, which will be detrimental to the UK economy and to its universities.
Currently, foreign students spend millions each year on fees to study in the UK and contribute generously to the economy while living in the UK.
The Tier 4 system was intended to identify ‘bogus’ colleges and universities in order to prevent foreigners entering the UK fraudulently and to protect the UK from terrorists, but the system is not working as intended.
Mandelson spoke to the vice-chancellor of Birkbeck University earlier this week, after which he stated, "I have had universities writing to me, talking to me and they feel the points-based system is not working entirely as intended, that it is having teething troubles and that we - together with the UK Borders Agency - need to look at how the UK immigration points-based system is operating, and that it does not have any unintended consequences."
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