Categories
blog

Student Visas Costing Huge Money to UK Educational Delivery System

Look at some of the statistics reported in by the Higher Education Better Regulation Group (HEBRG). The numbers are based on a study performed by HEBRG with 24 higher education providers.

  1. £4,366 to £772,537 a year is the annual cost incurred by the education providers for compliance actions to the new visa requirements.
  2. If calculated per student the cost ranges from £46 to £2,392, with the cost for the educational institute at £357,948. These costs are specifically for Tier 4 students.
  3. On the whole it is estimated that the whole higher education sector saw a cost of £66,800,910 (2012-2013) in compliance costs to Tier 4 student visa laws. This number shows nearly £27m jump on an estimated number of £40m provided by the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

 

Let us now see the basic mandates of the Tier 4 policy for the UK Universities

The guidelines dictate that the UK universities must offer courses which are of full-time curriculum to international students. These courses must be subject to suitable educational oversight. Also the UK universities are mandated to issue a CAS or Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) certificate to foreign applicants. For these international students the UK universities must incorporate precise recordkeeping and reporting formats and systems.

The problem is not with the Higher education institutions meeting the student visa compliance expectations. But the regular and constant changing requirements and rule changes lead to a lot of confusion resulting in waste and overspending.

The HEBRG study founded that the expense is varying in great degrees from one higher educational institution to another. This variance can be attributed to the incorrect interpretation of the Tier 4 policy rules. This clearly points at the importance of intervention and consultant advice from UK immigration consultants.

Leave a Reply