7 Students
82. The proposed cap applies only to non-EEA economic
immigrants. However, a number of witnesses raised with us the
fact that, to reduce overall immigration, the Government will
have to make significant changes to the other two main routes
of entry—students and family reunification. We intend to
return to these areas in more depth when the Government brings
forward specific proposals. However, we note here some of the
key points made in evidence about students, since this was raised
by several witnesses as a particular concern.
83. Some 51% of all non-EEA immigrants in 2008 came
to the UK for formal study—23% of the total number of 538,000
gross long-term immigrants (see table 2). Professor Metcalf told
us that it would be vital to review the student route in meeting
the Government's target:
You simply can't do that unless you also look
at the student route. It is impossible. If you close down tiers
1 and 2, you still wouldn't get to the tens of thousands.[119]
84. Witnesses underlined that the UK's universities
were a major international asset. The Campaign for Science and
Engineering (CaSE) noted that four of the world's top ten universities
were in the UK,[120]
and the London School of Business and Finance that the UK held
the second largest market share of international students after
the United States.[121]
85. The Minister told us in evidence that the Government
had "not come to a firm conclusion about what to do"
about students, but that it intended to look at the route".[122]
Our predecessor Committee in the last Parliament conducted an
inquiry into abuse of the student route in the light of concerns
about 'bogus' colleges, in particular English language schools.
It concluded that insufficient quality assurance procedures for
private educational establishments had allowed bogus colleges
to bring foreign nationals—possibly tens of thousands—into
the UK on fraudulently-obtained student visas. However, it considered
that new arrangements for issuing student visas under the Points
Based System would help combat bogus colleges. It recommended
that the UK Border Agency increase the number of unannounced inspections
on educational establishments, since advance notice had been given
in 85% of inspections; and that the Government use the Companies
Act 2006 to restrict use of the term "college" to properly
accredited institutions.[123]
The Minister stated that the Home Office would be closely examining
the issue of bogus colleges as part of the Department's overall
efforts.
86. We wrote to the Minister as part of our inquiry
to ask how many bogus colleges had been closed down since our
predecessors' report, the number of foreign students affected
by closures of such colleges, and how many unannounced inspections
had taken place. Mr Green wrote to us on 20 September that "the
UK Border Agency now has a requirement that at least 50% of standard
post-licence visits must be unannounced and this requirement is
being met by all regional visit teams. Additionally further visits
are commissioned by the Tier 4 sponsor investigations team all
of which are unannounced". He told us that the licences of
214 Tier 4 sponsors had been suspended and 48 licences revoked
since the Committee's report in July 2009. The number of non-EU
students affected by closures or restrictions was 43,000.
[124]
87. It is quite clear that, to achieve the reductions
it is seeking, the Government will have to make significant changes
to student immigration routes. As the Government is currently
reviewing student visas it has not yet made any detailed proposals
to effect such changes. We intend to return to this issue once
the Government brings forward firm proposals for action. In the
meantime, however, we underline the continuing importance of international
students to UK educational institutions and the UK economy, and
echo the conclusions drawn by our predecessor Committee, which
said that efforts would be far better directed towards tackling
bogus colleges and those who overstay their visas in order to
seek employment, than penalising legitimate students. We also
warn against constraining the activities of teaching in both the
public sector and private sector, which are highly regarded internationally
and make a significant contribution to the British economy.
119 Q 176 Back
120
Ev w28 Back
121
Ev w48 Back
122
Q 53 Back
123
Home Affairs Committee, Bogus Colleges, Eleventh Report
of Session 2008-09, HC 595, 21 July 2009 Back
124
Ev 73 Back
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