UKBA rules: Changes for immigration and education

UKBA released its consultation on Tier 4 at midday today. Schools have become extremely worried about the growing rhetoric that all student migration (including overseas pupils) will be dramatically lowered. Only recently did the Telegraph report that “up to 100,000 foreign students will be barred from Britain every year” and that “only those wanting to study a degree will be handed a visa in a bid to slash migrant numbers and curb the bogus students or colleges that exploit the system”.

We have been more discreet, commenting that the noises coming out of the Home Office and UKBA at the highermost level were indicating our message had been recieved. All students, and all educational sponsors, are not similar; independent schools, independent sixth form and our pupil breadth represents minimal, even zero, immigration risk.

First analysis of the consultation document indicates that UKBA understands this. The consultation states, “We propose no tightening of the Tier 4 (Child) route; this is a relatively small part of the Tier 4 composition and one which poses us least risk”. Indeed, the consultation is peppered with qualifications, carefully distinguishing independent schools from the rest (see, for example, the section on “stricter accreditation procedures for education providers in the private sector” which takes pains to differentiate independent schools from others). We are so happy to see this recognition in print our campaigning has not been a pointless venture.

There are other areas where ISC will push UKBA to go further than the status quo. Our goal is to lift all ISC schools out of the General Student visa route, with all the complications that brings, and accommodate all ISC schools and their overseas pupils within the Child Student visa. This means adapting the Child Student rules to allow them to deal with pupils who are over 18; the door is ajar, following a concession granted over the summer for extending pupils, and we will continue to push. And there are other changes which we will look for: a single visa to cover GCSE and A level study has long been sought, for example.

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