Current location:Stellar Space news portal > business
A third of foreign students seeking to stay in the UK are at just SIX institutions, figures show
Stellar Space news portal2024-05-18 00:36:17【business】1People have gathered around
IntroductionMore than a third of foreign students who went on to claim asylum in Britain were sponsored to come
More than a third of foreign students who went on to claim asylum in Britain were sponsored to come here by just six educational institutions.
The leaked figures come amid widespread concern that higher education is being abused as an immigration route.
The statistics from a secret Home Office database, covering the 12 months to March 2023, show 6,136 asylum cases were lodged by foreign students, more than a four-fold surge on the previous year.
Of those, 2,195 were sponsored by five universities and an education agency.
Study Group UK sponsored visas for 804 foreign students who later claimed asylum. The company's total was skewed towards two nationalities: 642 asylum claims from Bangladeshis and 156 from Pakistanis.
The statistics from a secret Home Office database, covering the 12 months to March 2023, show 6,136 asylum cases were lodged by foreign students, more than a four-fold surge on the previous year
The second-highest number of student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year were sponsored by Portsmouth University (pictured), with 395
Third was De Montfort University (pictured) with 310 student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year
Study Group's website describes it as a 'leading international education specialist and a trusted strategic partner to more than 50 universities around the world'.
EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: Tens of thousands of foreign nationals are 'exploiting a hidden asylum loophole' to stay in the UK permanently, documents reveal
AdvertisementThe firm – along with individual universities – is licensed to sponsor foreign visa applicants by a Home Office agency, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
The second-highest number of student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year were sponsored by Portsmouth University, with 395.
Its claims included 252 Bangladeshis, 54 from Afghans, 38 from Cameroonians and 28 from Pakistanis.
Third was De Montfort University with 310, followed by the University of Hertfordshire with 275, Coventry University with 217 and the University for the Creative Arts with 194.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman is among those who have previously criticised the higher education sector's role in bringing vast numbers of foreign students to Britain.
'Too many universities are selling immigration, not education,' she said in January.
In December Home Secretary James Cleverly announced a review of the 'graduate visa' which allows students who have completed their courses to work in Britain for up to two years.
Fourth was the University of Hertfordshire (pictured) with 275 student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year
Fifth was Coventry University (pictured) with student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year
In December Home Secretary James Cleverly (pictured on Wednesday) announced a review of the 'graduate visa' which allows students who have completed their courses to work in Britain for up to two years
An official review was only launched three months later and its results are awaited.
Latest Home Office data shows there were 457,673 sponsored study visas granted to main applicants last year. This is five per cent fewer than in 2022 but 70 per cent up on 2019 prior to the Covid pandemic.
However the graduate route allowed 114,409 foreign students to extend their stay in Britain by two years after completing a course, up 57 per cent year-on-year.
READ MORE: Immigration chiefs warn universities after THOUSANDS of foreign students claim asylum within months of arriving in Britain
AdvertisementA University of Portsmouth spokesman said: 'This issue is a result of the Government's asylum policy, which allows visa switching in a way that is outside the direct control of the universities concerned and is not a failing of the higher education sector.
'The visa system and rules should not permit individuals approved to study with a study visa to legally switch to claim asylum.' He added the university has taken steps and worked with UKVI on the issue.
A Study Group spokesman said: 'As a UKVI licence-holder with a track record of compliance to sponsor international students, we take our duties extremely seriously.
'We immediately flag immigration concerns regarding any students who may seem non-genuine.'
A spokesman for the higher education body Universities UK International said: 'To recruit international students, universities must meet very high standards set by government.
'Adherence to these standards is continuously monitored by UKVI and compliance is exceptionally high.
'Our universities take visa compliance very seriously and, working with the Home Office and UKVI, take all possible steps to minimise the potential for abuse.'
Address of this article:http://www.afischerphasedrives.com/content-16f599460.html
Very good!(73)
Related articles
- Hush money trial: Trump asks New York court to intervene in fight over gag order
- Martin Wygod, former health care executive turned successful horse breeder and owner, dies at 84
- Moon landing: Odysseus marks first US landing in over 50 years
- Astronomers spot previously unknown moons around Neptune, Uranus
- PGA Championship at a glance
- European satellite falls out of orbit, breaks over Pacific
- Project to shore up Pompeii yields stunning black banquet hall, with frescoes of Trojan War figures
- Movie Review: Bill Nighy, Michael Ward shine in Netflix’s Homeless World Cup crowd
- Scheffler, Spieth, McIlroy all going for different slices of history when they tee it up at PGA
- Tips for college students and parents ahead of tax deadline
Popular articles
- UNC interim chancellor backs AD Bubba Cunningham after trustee criticism, audit push
- Total solar eclipse 2024 wow crowds across North America
- Project to shore up Pompeii yields stunning black banquet hall, with frescoes of Trojan War figures
- Vikings had windows, another shift away from their image as barbaric Norsemen, Danish museum says
Recommended
Brussels warns it WON'T let The Netherlands opt out of EU rules and bring in its 'strictest
Maggie Rogers on 'Don't Forget Me,' the album she wrote for a Sunday drive
Book Review: Hampton Sides revisits Captain James Cook, a divisive figure in the South Pacific
Private US moon lander still working after breaking leg and falling, but not for long
Shaquille O'Neal, 7ft1in, towers over Sarah Jessica Parker, 5ft3in, as the pair pose up at the star
Joel Embiid returns from injury scare, scores 32 as 76ers beat Magic 125
Russia aborts planned test launch of new space rocket
Bakery outlets close across New England and New York
Links
- Giants place Jung Hoo Lee on injured list with a dislocated left shoulder
- China Red Cross Society celebrates 120th anniversary
- The Latest
- Cannes kicks off with Greta Gerwig's jury and a Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep
- Lea Michele reveals sex of her second child in sweet Mother's Day post
- Jimmy Dunne resigns from PGA Tour board
- Kylie Jenner wows in curve
- Removal of remainder of Civil War governor's monument in North Carolina starting
- New Jersey lawmakers pass overhaul of state's open records law
- Horrifying moment gunmen open fire and massacre eight people at Mexican beer warehouse