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International students must gain points for visa

Mon, 31 Jul 2006
International students may have to gain a number of points in order to qualify for an international student visa, under new regulations.

The UK's universities are warming to the introduction of a new points based system for international students in a redesign of the immigration service. This has been introduced to curb talk of visa's being given for cash.

International students pay in excess of £10,000 a year for tuition, and are a great source of income for most UK universities. However, they are typically from well-to-do backgrounds and thus do not feel the burden of debt as UK students may do.

Universities UK, the association responsible for representing the UK's two-hundred strong universities announced that higher education is not a high-risk area for immigration abuse, however support the decision.

Drummond Bone, president of Universities UK stated that we must ensure higher education is not associated with less reputable education providers.

A report produced by the Home Office states that a points based system for international students wishing to study in the UK will probably be introduced in spring 2009.

Concise details of the proposed system are still not confirmed. However, it believed that international students will have to be sponsored by a UK college or university before they can legally enter the UK.

Each college and university will also have responsibility for ensuring their students comply with visa regulations.