The UK government has announced new proposals to further crack down on student visas, aiming to tackle student visa abuse and ensure that this route is not used as a gateway to immigration, according to the Home Office.
The new measures proposed by the Home Secretary and Education Secretary include:
- Raising financial maintenance requirements for international students to prove their financial self-sufficiency;
- Reviewing English language assessments to standardise independent assessments, ensuring all international students have the skills to understand their course materials;
- Introducing tougher compliance standards for institutions recruiting students from overseas, with improved control over recruitment agents.
Additionally, universities that accept international students who then fail to pass the Home Office’s visa checks, enrol, or complete their courses will risk losing their sponsor licence.
Currently, overseas students are required to have £1,334 per month (for up to nine months) for courses in London and £1,023 per month (for up to nine months) outside London to prove they have enough money to support themselves during their studies in the UK. This requirement is waived if they have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months at the time of application.
For the English language requirement, overseas students will need to prove they can read, write, speak, and understand English to the equivalent level of CEFR level B2 if they’re going to study a degree course, or CEFR level B1 if they are studying below a degree level.
The Home Office has not yet confirmed how and when they plan to increase the financial maintenance requirements, nor what steps will be taken to standardise the English assessments.
“We have taken decisive and necessary action to deliver the largest cut in legal migration in our country’s history. Applications are already falling sharply, down by almost a quarter on key routes in the first four months of this year compared to last, with the full impact of our package still to be seen.
“But we must go further to make sure our immigration routes aren’t abused. That’s why we are cracking down on rogue international agents and, building on work across government, to ensure international students are coming here to study, not work,” Home Secretary James Cleverly has said.
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