As thousands of international students move from college to college, care needs to be taken to ensure you stay on the right side of the law. One wrong move and you could find your visa being cancelled by the UK Border Agency.
Immigration advisers are reporting that a number of students whose Tier 4 and pre-Tier 4 visas were suddenly curtailed by the border agency within weeks of their former college reporting their premature departure. One leading adviser said:
“We have seen student’s visas cancelled shortly after they stop attending the college which granted them permission.”
Some of these students had left their college without completing their course and without applying for new permission. In many cases they also owed substantial sums in unpaid fees.
Their new providers seemed quite happy to enrol them without bothering to take up a reference from the previous college or offering any advice to the student. This can have serious repercussions for the student later on down the road when it comes to renewing their visas without an ‘established presence’ in the UK.
If you have changed college, do you have the new permission from UKBA? Also, has your new college checked your reference and attendance record from the previous college? These factors can affect your leave to remain.
Check their visa and student status as holding a visa does not guarantee your stay in the UK.
Looking for a college or University?
UKUS is a free University and College Admissions and advice service based in London, UK. Students interested in studying abroad can complete the Online UKUS Registration Form for more details.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
How to study on a short course in the UK on a student visitor visa
The student visitor visa should not be confused with the points based Tier 4 student visa. You should apply for a student visitor visa if you want to come to the UK to do a short course of study, not longer than six months, during your visit.
Examples of short courses include English Language, TEFL or ESOL courses, which can run for periods starting at six weeks.
The basic rules published by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) state that you should be aged 18 or over (under 18’ can apply as a child visitor), and you must have been accepted on a course of study provided by:
Unlike students on Tier 4 student visa, you must not:
Applying for a student visitor visa
Depending on your nationality, you may need to apply for permission to come to the UK as a student visitor (known as a 'visa' or 'entry clearance') before you travel. To find out whether you need a visa check the 'Do I need a UK visa?' questionnaire on the UKBA’s Visa services section.
Visa National’s, those people who need a visa to enter the UK (basically most non-Western countries) should visit the 'How to apply' section of the UKBA’s Visa services section, which will tell you which visa application form you need to use, as well as listing the documents that you should provide when you apply.
Non-visa National's do not normally need a visa to come to the UK as a student visitor, but may want to consider applying for entry clearance if you have previously been refused entry to the UK.
UK University Services (UKUS) are offering English Summer courses such as the 4 week Teaching English as a Foreign Language Course - TEFL starting soon. There are also 12 week courses and ESOL programmes.
For more information see http://www.uk-universityservices.co.uk/courses-A-Z
Examples of short courses include English Language, TEFL or ESOL courses, which can run for periods starting at six weeks.
The basic rules published by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) state that you should be aged 18 or over (under 18’ can apply as a child visitor), and you must have been accepted on a course of study provided by:
- an education provider that holds a sponsor licence under Tier 4 of the points-based system; or
- an education provider that is accredited by an accreditation body approved by the UK Border Agency; or
- an education provider that is inspected or audited by either the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education in Scotland, Estyn in Wales, Northern Ireland's Education and Training Inspectorate or the Independent Schools Inspectorate; or
- an overseas higher education institution that offers only part of its programmes in the UK, holds its own national accreditation, and offers programmes that are of an equivalent level to a UK degree.
- During your visit, you must:
- support and pay for accommodation for yourself and any dependants, without help from public funds; or
- ensure that you and your dependants will be supported and accommodated by relatives or friends, and will not take employment.
Unlike students on Tier 4 student visa, you must not:
- take employment in the UK (including part-time or full-time vacation employment);
- engage in business, produce goods or provide services within the UK (including selling goods or services direct to members of the public);
- study at a government-funded school;
- undertake a work placement or internship (paid or unpaid) as part of your course of study;
- extend your stay in the UK;
- carry out the activities of a business visitor, a sports visitor or an entertainer visitor;
- receive private medical treatment; or
- be in transit to a country outside the common travel area (the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).
Applying for a student visitor visa
Depending on your nationality, you may need to apply for permission to come to the UK as a student visitor (known as a 'visa' or 'entry clearance') before you travel. To find out whether you need a visa check the 'Do I need a UK visa?' questionnaire on the UKBA’s Visa services section.
Visa National’s, those people who need a visa to enter the UK (basically most non-Western countries) should visit the 'How to apply' section of the UKBA’s Visa services section, which will tell you which visa application form you need to use, as well as listing the documents that you should provide when you apply.
Non-visa National's do not normally need a visa to come to the UK as a student visitor, but may want to consider applying for entry clearance if you have previously been refused entry to the UK.
UK University Services (UKUS) are offering English Summer courses such as the 4 week Teaching English as a Foreign Language Course - TEFL starting soon. There are also 12 week courses and ESOL programmes.
For more information see http://www.uk-universityservices.co.uk/courses-A-Z
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
International student numbers soar as UK remains an attractive place to study
The UK is still very much ‘open for business’ for international students.
The number of international students around the world is continuing to rise sharply, with provisional figures from Unesco’s Institute for Statistics revealing an annual increase of 12%.
The final figures for 2009, to be published in May, are expected to show the number of international students rising to 3.43 million from 2.96 million, according to the Unesco statistics.
There are many different measures of overseas students – but this global figure from Unesco shows a huge spike in numbers this decade, rising by more than 75% since 2000.
The United States is the biggest destination. According to the Institute of International Education, the latest figures show there are 691,000 students in the US, with an annual value to the economy estimated at around $20bn (£12.3bn).
But its dominance now depends on the ever-growing number of arrivals from China, overtaking India as the largest single group of overseas students. The number of Chinese students in the US rose by almost 30% in a single year. The third biggest contingent in the US comes from South Korea.
China has become the firecracker in this market. There are more than 440,000 Chinese students abroad – and there are plans to rapidly increase the number of overseas students coming to China’s universities, with an ambitious target of 500,000 places.
To put this into a longer-term perspective, the entire overseas student population in China could once have travelled in a minibus. In the early 1950s it consisted of 20 east Europeans.
Chasing quality
Driving the demand among Chinese to study abroad is a shortage of places on high-quality degree courses at home and the pressure to have an overseas qualification when chasing jobs, says Rahul Choudaha, associate director of the New York-based World Education Services.
The Chinese university system has expanded in terms of quantity, says Dr Choudaha, but it is struggling to keep pace with the demand for quality.
The plan to bring more overseas students into China is part of the country’s drive to internationalise its economy and become a “knowledge power”, says Dr Choudaha.
It’s also a reflection of how much the culture of the overseas student market has changed – with western universities no longer able to depend on their pivotal position.
It was once a trade as stately as steamships, vaguely colonial in how it managed to make a nice little earner seem rather philanthropic.
Now it’s more like international air travel, with the trade routes of this multi-billion business wrapping themselves around the globe in every direction.
The current intake of overseas students in China also shows a different kind of map of influence. The only European country in its top 10 is Russia – with the most overseas students in China coming from South Korea, the US, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Overseas without travel
It’s also no longer necessarily about overseas students travelling from overseas.
Figures released by the British Council this week show that there are now more “overseas students” taking UK degrees in their own countries than there are overseas students coming to study in the UK.
The UK is the second biggest destination for overseas students.
But there are now 340,000 students taking UK university courses in their home countries, either through partnerships between UK and local universities or else through UK universities setting up branch campuses, such as Nottingham in Ningbo in China.
More than 160 branch campuses have been opened in more than 50 countries – mostly by US universities. There are also a multitude of partnerships and joint degrees as part of this academic cross-pollination.
According to the British Council, this type of “transnational” studying has increased by 70% in a decade.
The council’s chief executive, Martin Davidson, says this is going to appeal to “students across the world who may not be able to afford to spend several years thousands of miles away from home”.
Technology can only accelerate this process. Online degrees are making strides in the mainstream, with US firms such as Laureate teaming up with institutions such as Liverpool University to offer internet-based courses. Laureate has a network of university links in 24 countries.
Talent search
Another key to this growth in internationalisation is the competition for the most talented students and staff.
Major research institutions are like top football clubs, operating in in a kind of international zone, judged by international comparisons and competing to recruit the best individuals from around the world.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is widely-recognised as one of the best research universities in the world.
It might be physically based in Boston, but its cutting-edge postgraduate courses depend on recruiting the best students – and this means a global rather than a national catchment area.
About 40% of the students on graduate courses are from outside the US, says Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, director and associate dean of the International Students Office.
“We open up admissions to the whole world. We don’t consider their nationality, we just want the best – and we get them,” she says.
There are more than a hundred different nationalities represented in the graduate intake – with the biggest numbers coming from China, India and South Korea.
The scale of the increase in international student numbers in university is not without risks.
In the UK, the current level of anxiety over new student visa restrictions reveals how much universities have come to depend on the income from overseas students. Fortunately, the new rules have come out very much in favour of universities and government run colleges, with private colleges taking the brunt of restrictions imposed by the UK Border Agency.
Steven Schwartz is vice chancellor of Macquarie University in Sydney, having previously worked in universities in the UK and US.
In Australia he has seen how quickly an expanding overseas student market can evaporate.
Indian public opinion was outraged after a series of attacks on Indian students in Australia in 2009. Applications from Indian students slumped by 50% – and threatened an industry which had grown to become Australia’s third biggest export.
He says the lesson from this rise and fall is that university systems should always remember that students are individuals rather than walking fee cheques.
“Studying with students from diverse backgrounds, domestic students learn about other cultures, cuisines and languages. They also learn about fairness and tolerance and teamwork and fair play. These lessons are just as important as any learned in class,” says Prof Schwartz.
“However these lessons will be negated when we treat international students as simply income sources. No student wants to be an export earner and the sooner we learn this the better.” By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent.
Despite the recent clampdown by the UK Border Agency on bogus private colleges and Tier 4 visa rule changes, Britain is still very much ‘open for business’ for students wishing to study at UK Universities and colleges.
Obtaining a student visa from a ‘non-Western’ or third world country to study at a UK University or private college is far more straightforward than many other countries, for instance, Canada or the USA. Visa agents in India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and The Philippines report extremely high refusal rates for US, Canadian and Australian visas – in some cases 100%.
In the UK, all a student has to do is gain 40 points (and demonstrate a relatively low level of English language capability) under the streamlined and transparent ’Points Based System’, 30 of which comes from a Tier 4 licensed Sponsoring educational provider (which can be checked on the Tier 4 Sponsors Register) and 10 by demonstrating sufficient funds, and a student visa is virtually guaranteed.
British Embassy Visa Sections take a matter of weeks or days to grant a UK student visas (which can be obtain by applying online), rather than months for some countries, and rarely involve an interview. Almost 300,000 student visas were granted in 2010 for UK Universities, Colleges and private Schools and the sector is worth billions to the British economy.
International students studying at Universities and government colleges will retain the right to work part time up to 20 hours per week and full time during vacations.
The UK is also a multi-cultural, tolerant society where migrants and students will find a safe environment in which to study or work.
To register your application to become an international student... contact UKUS via the
Online UKUS Registration Form or, if you are ready to apply for a course of study, complete the International Student Application Form.
Source: Immigration Matters
The number of international students around the world is continuing to rise sharply, with provisional figures from Unesco’s Institute for Statistics revealing an annual increase of 12%.
The final figures for 2009, to be published in May, are expected to show the number of international students rising to 3.43 million from 2.96 million, according to the Unesco statistics.
There are many different measures of overseas students – but this global figure from Unesco shows a huge spike in numbers this decade, rising by more than 75% since 2000.
The United States is the biggest destination. According to the Institute of International Education, the latest figures show there are 691,000 students in the US, with an annual value to the economy estimated at around $20bn (£12.3bn).
But its dominance now depends on the ever-growing number of arrivals from China, overtaking India as the largest single group of overseas students. The number of Chinese students in the US rose by almost 30% in a single year. The third biggest contingent in the US comes from South Korea.
China has become the firecracker in this market. There are more than 440,000 Chinese students abroad – and there are plans to rapidly increase the number of overseas students coming to China’s universities, with an ambitious target of 500,000 places.
To put this into a longer-term perspective, the entire overseas student population in China could once have travelled in a minibus. In the early 1950s it consisted of 20 east Europeans.
Chasing quality
Driving the demand among Chinese to study abroad is a shortage of places on high-quality degree courses at home and the pressure to have an overseas qualification when chasing jobs, says Rahul Choudaha, associate director of the New York-based World Education Services.
The Chinese university system has expanded in terms of quantity, says Dr Choudaha, but it is struggling to keep pace with the demand for quality.
The plan to bring more overseas students into China is part of the country’s drive to internationalise its economy and become a “knowledge power”, says Dr Choudaha.
It’s also a reflection of how much the culture of the overseas student market has changed – with western universities no longer able to depend on their pivotal position.
It was once a trade as stately as steamships, vaguely colonial in how it managed to make a nice little earner seem rather philanthropic.
Now it’s more like international air travel, with the trade routes of this multi-billion business wrapping themselves around the globe in every direction.
The current intake of overseas students in China also shows a different kind of map of influence. The only European country in its top 10 is Russia – with the most overseas students in China coming from South Korea, the US, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Overseas without travel
It’s also no longer necessarily about overseas students travelling from overseas.
Figures released by the British Council this week show that there are now more “overseas students” taking UK degrees in their own countries than there are overseas students coming to study in the UK.
The UK is the second biggest destination for overseas students.
But there are now 340,000 students taking UK university courses in their home countries, either through partnerships between UK and local universities or else through UK universities setting up branch campuses, such as Nottingham in Ningbo in China.
More than 160 branch campuses have been opened in more than 50 countries – mostly by US universities. There are also a multitude of partnerships and joint degrees as part of this academic cross-pollination.
According to the British Council, this type of “transnational” studying has increased by 70% in a decade.
The council’s chief executive, Martin Davidson, says this is going to appeal to “students across the world who may not be able to afford to spend several years thousands of miles away from home”.
Technology can only accelerate this process. Online degrees are making strides in the mainstream, with US firms such as Laureate teaming up with institutions such as Liverpool University to offer internet-based courses. Laureate has a network of university links in 24 countries.
Talent search
Another key to this growth in internationalisation is the competition for the most talented students and staff.
Major research institutions are like top football clubs, operating in in a kind of international zone, judged by international comparisons and competing to recruit the best individuals from around the world.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is widely-recognised as one of the best research universities in the world.
It might be physically based in Boston, but its cutting-edge postgraduate courses depend on recruiting the best students – and this means a global rather than a national catchment area.
About 40% of the students on graduate courses are from outside the US, says Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, director and associate dean of the International Students Office.
“We open up admissions to the whole world. We don’t consider their nationality, we just want the best – and we get them,” she says.
There are more than a hundred different nationalities represented in the graduate intake – with the biggest numbers coming from China, India and South Korea.
The scale of the increase in international student numbers in university is not without risks.
In the UK, the current level of anxiety over new student visa restrictions reveals how much universities have come to depend on the income from overseas students. Fortunately, the new rules have come out very much in favour of universities and government run colleges, with private colleges taking the brunt of restrictions imposed by the UK Border Agency.
Steven Schwartz is vice chancellor of Macquarie University in Sydney, having previously worked in universities in the UK and US.
In Australia he has seen how quickly an expanding overseas student market can evaporate.
Indian public opinion was outraged after a series of attacks on Indian students in Australia in 2009. Applications from Indian students slumped by 50% – and threatened an industry which had grown to become Australia’s third biggest export.
He says the lesson from this rise and fall is that university systems should always remember that students are individuals rather than walking fee cheques.
“Studying with students from diverse backgrounds, domestic students learn about other cultures, cuisines and languages. They also learn about fairness and tolerance and teamwork and fair play. These lessons are just as important as any learned in class,” says Prof Schwartz.
“However these lessons will be negated when we treat international students as simply income sources. No student wants to be an export earner and the sooner we learn this the better.” By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent.
Despite the recent clampdown by the UK Border Agency on bogus private colleges and Tier 4 visa rule changes, Britain is still very much ‘open for business’ for students wishing to study at UK Universities and colleges.
Obtaining a student visa from a ‘non-Western’ or third world country to study at a UK University or private college is far more straightforward than many other countries, for instance, Canada or the USA. Visa agents in India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and The Philippines report extremely high refusal rates for US, Canadian and Australian visas – in some cases 100%.
In the UK, all a student has to do is gain 40 points (and demonstrate a relatively low level of English language capability) under the streamlined and transparent ’Points Based System’, 30 of which comes from a Tier 4 licensed Sponsoring educational provider (which can be checked on the Tier 4 Sponsors Register) and 10 by demonstrating sufficient funds, and a student visa is virtually guaranteed.
British Embassy Visa Sections take a matter of weeks or days to grant a UK student visas (which can be obtain by applying online), rather than months for some countries, and rarely involve an interview. Almost 300,000 student visas were granted in 2010 for UK Universities, Colleges and private Schools and the sector is worth billions to the British economy.
International students studying at Universities and government colleges will retain the right to work part time up to 20 hours per week and full time during vacations.
The UK is also a multi-cultural, tolerant society where migrants and students will find a safe environment in which to study or work.
To register your application to become an international student... contact UKUS via the
Online UKUS Registration Form or, if you are ready to apply for a course of study, complete the International Student Application Form.
Source: Immigration Matters
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Why do international students choose to study in the UK?
According to a recent Student Survey... it’s a question of quality
In February 2007, the British Council launched the on-line global Student Decision Making Survey, which asks potential students a range of questions. These are students in their home country who are interested in studying abroad or pursuing a foreign qualification in their home country. The survey captures why students want to study overseas, what they are looking for in an institution, location and course, where they look for information and much more.
Throughout 2007, the survey was run in over 30 countries, on-line and at education exhibitions, attracting over 32,000 respondents. This was built upon in 2008, and a further 40,000 responses were captured. The British Council continues to collect data from prospective students every day.
At the end of 2010, the data collected from 115,000 students in 200 countries showed that the quality of a UK education was a major factor in persuading them to travel to the UK to study.
What influences an overseas student’s decision to travel abroad to study?
Interestingly, only 10% said that low tuition fees were in their top three considerations, leading the study to conclude that the "cost of studying overseas does not feature strongly when students are choosing a study destination".
UK is a market leader
The report notes that, whilst it faces increasing competition from other nations providing an education for overseas students, the UK is still "a market leader" in university services.
To register your application to become an international student... contact UKUS via the Online UKUS Registration Form
Student Visa Hurdle
The British Council survey throws up some interesting points on quality and work options.
Whilst the visas did not appear to be a major factor in the survey, to students from poorer countries obtaining a student visa is one of the main considerations when choosing where to study.
A British, German or French student wishing to study at an American or Canadian university would barely think about obtaining a student visa when making a decision, and the thought of being refused a US visa would not even enter their minds.
Contrast that with the perception of a student from Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan or the Philippines, where even the idea of obtaining a visitor visa for the US or Canada seems like an impossible dream then you begin to understand how the 'visa hurdle' loom large in their minds.
Despite recent changes, the UK still has a simple, transparent points based system (PBS) for student visa applications.
In the UK, all a student has to do is gain 40 points (and demonstrate a relatively low level of English language capability) under the streamlined and transparent ’Points Based System’, 30 of which comes from a Tier 4 licensed Sponsoring educational provider (which can be checked on the Tier 4 Sponsors Register) and 10 by demonstrating sufficient funds, and a student visa is virtually guaranteed.
British Embassy Visa Sections take a matter of weeks or days to grant a UK student visas (which can be obtain by applying online), rather than months for some countries, and rarely involve an interview. Almost 300,000 student visas were granted in 2010 for UK Universities, Colleges and private Schools and the sector is worth billions to the British economy.
International students studying at Universities and government colleges will retain the right to work part time up to 20 hours per week and full time during vacations.
The UK is also a multi-cultural, tolerant society where migrants and students will find a safe environment in which to study or work.
Source: UK University Services (UKUS) News
See also:
International students numbers soar as UK remains an attractive place to study
In February 2007, the British Council launched the on-line global Student Decision Making Survey, which asks potential students a range of questions. These are students in their home country who are interested in studying abroad or pursuing a foreign qualification in their home country. The survey captures why students want to study overseas, what they are looking for in an institution, location and course, where they look for information and much more.
Throughout 2007, the survey was run in over 30 countries, on-line and at education exhibitions, attracting over 32,000 respondents. This was built upon in 2008, and a further 40,000 responses were captured. The British Council continues to collect data from prospective students every day.
At the end of 2010, the data collected from 115,000 students in 200 countries showed that the quality of a UK education was a major factor in persuading them to travel to the UK to study.
What influences an overseas student’s decision to travel abroad to study?
- 59% of those heading for the UK said the quality of education available in the UK was the key.
- 38% of those heading for the US were most likely to focus on their career prospects.
- 25% of those heading for Germany saw low tuition fees as a priority.
- 24% of those heading for Australia and Canada considered the opportunity to work whilst studying a major factor.
- 19% travel to study in the US
- 10% travel to study in the UK
- 7% travel to study in Australia
- 7% travel to study in Germany
- 7% travel to study in France
Interestingly, only 10% said that low tuition fees were in their top three considerations, leading the study to conclude that the "cost of studying overseas does not feature strongly when students are choosing a study destination".
UK is a market leader
The report notes that, whilst it faces increasing competition from other nations providing an education for overseas students, the UK is still "a market leader" in university services.
To register your application to become an international student... contact UKUS via the Online UKUS Registration Form
Student Visa Hurdle
The British Council survey throws up some interesting points on quality and work options.
Whilst the visas did not appear to be a major factor in the survey, to students from poorer countries obtaining a student visa is one of the main considerations when choosing where to study.
A British, German or French student wishing to study at an American or Canadian university would barely think about obtaining a student visa when making a decision, and the thought of being refused a US visa would not even enter their minds.
Contrast that with the perception of a student from Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan or the Philippines, where even the idea of obtaining a visitor visa for the US or Canada seems like an impossible dream then you begin to understand how the 'visa hurdle' loom large in their minds.
Despite recent changes, the UK still has a simple, transparent points based system (PBS) for student visa applications.
In the UK, all a student has to do is gain 40 points (and demonstrate a relatively low level of English language capability) under the streamlined and transparent ’Points Based System’, 30 of which comes from a Tier 4 licensed Sponsoring educational provider (which can be checked on the Tier 4 Sponsors Register) and 10 by demonstrating sufficient funds, and a student visa is virtually guaranteed.
British Embassy Visa Sections take a matter of weeks or days to grant a UK student visas (which can be obtain by applying online), rather than months for some countries, and rarely involve an interview. Almost 300,000 student visas were granted in 2010 for UK Universities, Colleges and private Schools and the sector is worth billions to the British economy.
International students studying at Universities and government colleges will retain the right to work part time up to 20 hours per week and full time during vacations.
The UK is also a multi-cultural, tolerant society where migrants and students will find a safe environment in which to study or work.
Source: UK University Services (UKUS) News
See also:
International students numbers soar as UK remains an attractive place to study
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