The United Kingdom has announced tougher measures that could bar universities from sponsoring international students as part of efforts to tackle alleged visa abuse and reduce asylum claims linked to study routes. The UK Home Office disclosed the reforms on Thursday, describing them as part of a broader strategy to close immigration loopholes associated with student visas.
According to the government, universities that fail to meet new compliance requirements could be prohibited from recruiting international students.Under the revised Basic Compliance Assessment framework, higher education institutions sponsoring student visas must maintain a visa refusal rate below 5 percent, an enrolment rate of at least 95 percent, and a course completion rate of no less than 90 percent.
The policy will be introduced in stages with immediate effect, while a new traffic-light compliance rating system for universities is expected to launch in the summer of 2027. Officials said the changes are aimed at preventing the misuse of student visas and reducing cases where international students later seek asylum after arriving in the UK.
Home Office figures released last month showed that 10,835 people who entered the country on study visas subsequently applied for asylum. The data also revealed that 409,954 sponsored study visas were issued during the period, a decline from the peak of 498,626 recorded in the year ending June 2023. Authorities attributed the drop partly to earlier restrictions on international students bringing dependants.
UK Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Mike Tapp, said the government remains open to genuine international students but stressed the need for stronger oversight. He noted that while British universities enjoy a strong global reputation, the visa system should not be exploited as a pathway to asylum claims or illegal employment. Tapp added that student asylum applications had fallen by 30 percent over the past year and warned that authorities would continue monitoring attempts to abuse the system.
Under the planned traffic-light framework, universities classified as “red” will face restrictions on recruiting international students and must undertake a 12-month improvement programme. Institutions that fail to improve could lose their sponsorship licences altogether, preventing them from admitting international students who require study visas.
Source: https://punchng.com/
