Posted on Tuesday 23rd February 2010 in News

Foreign students from outside Europe wanting to come to the UK to study will be required to meet stricter entry criteria, the Home Secretary announced recently.

The new regulations will see tougher employment restrictions for those studying below degree level, and their dependents will be face complete restriction on any work at all.

The new measures include:

• a good standard of English (equivalent of holding just below a GCSE in a foreign language) will be needed to come to the UK and study to improve English language competency further;
• a good standard of English (again equivalent of holding just below a GCSE in a foreign language) will need to be demonstrated in order to study any other course below degree level;
• restricting the lowest-level courses (A levels and equivalent) to only the most trusted institutions;
• halving the amount of time a student studying below first degree level or on a foundation degree course will be able to work, to just 10 hours during term time;
• a ban on bringing in dependents for anyone studying a course for less than six months; and
• a ban on dependents of anyone studying a course lower than foundation or undergraduate degree level from working - they will face removal from the UK if found doing so.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:

'The points-based system was introduced to provide a rigorous system to manage legitimate access to the UK to work and study, with the ability to respond to changing circumstances. We want foreign students to come here to study, not to work illegally, and today we have set out necessary steps which will maintain the robustness of the system we introduced last year. I make no apologies for that.'

In addition, the new measures will include:

• a ban on foreign students studying below degree level if the course includes a work placement - unless that course is being provided by a university, college or training provider which has the status of 'highly trusted sponsor';
• a requirement for students to demonstrate their English language ability by passing an approved secure test - this will apply to all students studying below (foundation) degree level, including those coming to study English language; and
• the introduction of tougher criteria for defining which course providers count as 'highly trusted sponsors' of foreign students. We expect that all publicly funded universities and colleges will count as highly trusted, and we will ensure that there is a rapid but rigorous system for ensuring that private training colleges can also gain that status as soon as possible.

These changes are part of a radical overhaul of the student system which began last year, and are part of the government's commitment to effectively target and reduce potential abuse of the system. Since March 2009, the government has required all foreign students to be sponsored by an accredited college licensed by the UK Border Agency, and to demonstrate that they can support themselves before being granted a visa. This has reduced the number of institutions able to bring students to the UK from over 4,000 to approximately 2,000.

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