More than 2,000 students potentially face deportation after a university had its licence to teach and recruit students from outside the EU revoked.
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) says student attendance at London Metropolitan University is not being monitored and that many have no right to be here. As a result, the university will no longer be allowed to authorise visas.
The university said it would be challenging UKBA's claims. A task force has been set up to help students affected by the decision which means some 2,000 overseas non-EU students will have to find an alternative institution to sponsor them or face deportation. The government says it wants to assess how many students will be successfully reallocated to alternative institutions before the UKBA sends out notices giving them 60 days to leave or be deported.
At this stage, the Home Office is unable to say when those notices will be issued. The UKBA says London Metropolitan University had "failed to address serious and systemic failings" identified six months ago.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said London Metropolitan University had failed in three particular areas: More than a quarter of the 101 students sampled were studying at the university when they had no leave to remain in this country Some 20 of 50 checked files found "no proper evidence" that the students' mandatory English levels had been reached And some 142 of 250 (57%) sampled records had attendance monitoring issues, which meant it was impossible for the university to know whether students were turning up for classes or not.
Professor Malcolm Gillies, the university's vice chancellor, described the claims made against the institution as "not particularly cogent" and said it would be disputing them. "I would go so far as to say that UKBA has been rewriting its own guidelines on this issue and this is something which should cause concern to all universities in the UK," he said.
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) says student attendance at London Metropolitan University is not being monitored and that many have no right to be here. As a result, the university will no longer be allowed to authorise visas.
The university said it would be challenging UKBA's claims. A task force has been set up to help students affected by the decision which means some 2,000 overseas non-EU students will have to find an alternative institution to sponsor them or face deportation. The government says it wants to assess how many students will be successfully reallocated to alternative institutions before the UKBA sends out notices giving them 60 days to leave or be deported.
At this stage, the Home Office is unable to say when those notices will be issued. The UKBA says London Metropolitan University had "failed to address serious and systemic failings" identified six months ago.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said London Metropolitan University had failed in three particular areas: More than a quarter of the 101 students sampled were studying at the university when they had no leave to remain in this country Some 20 of 50 checked files found "no proper evidence" that the students' mandatory English levels had been reached And some 142 of 250 (57%) sampled records had attendance monitoring issues, which meant it was impossible for the university to know whether students were turning up for classes or not.
Professor Malcolm Gillies, the university's vice chancellor, described the claims made against the institution as "not particularly cogent" and said it would be disputing them. "I would go so far as to say that UKBA has been rewriting its own guidelines on this issue and this is something which should cause concern to all universities in the UK," he said.
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