Immigration: The Points Based System - Student Route: Home Office: UK Border Agency

HC 1827, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Session 2010-12

Author:

National Audit Office (NAO)

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

Price: £16.00

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'Immigration: The Points Based System - Student Route: Home Office: UK Border Agency (HC 1827)' examines how students from countries outside the European Economic Area can study in the UK, provided they are sponsored by educational institutions licensed by the UK Border Agency. This points-based route is known as "Tier 4".

Tier 4 was implemented before the key controls were in place. Based on college enrolment rates and changes in application patterns, the NAO estimates that, in its first year of operation, between 40,000 and 50,000 individuals may have entered the UK via Tier 4 to work rather than to study.

The Agency did not check that those who entered the UK as students were attending college and has taken little action to prevent and detect students overstaying or working in breach of their visa conditions, because the Agency regards them as low priority compared to illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers.

The Agency has removed 2,700 students since April 2009 but has been slow to withdraw students' leave to remain in the UK, and currently does little to ensure that people leave the UK when their visa extension requests have been refused.

New controls and a fully-documented compliance strategy were introduced in 2011 that are likely to reduce the number of problem students, but ways to measure its success and establish the full cost of Tier 4-related activities are still necessary to determine value for money.

Extent	40 pages	ISBN	9780102975444
Size	A4	Price	£16.00
Format	Paperback	Published	27 Mar 2012
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges