IT holds up checks on 'bogus' students

Foreign nationals entering the UK claiming to be students are escaping mandatory checks on their whereabouts because an IT system is yet to be installed.



Since March, the points-based system for education providers dictates they must tell the Home Office if non-EU students are unduly absent, fail to enrol or stop studying.



But the management system to log such details is not fully operational, so providers cannot meet their reporting duties until it is complete "later in 2009," officials said.



Despite this, the UK Border Agency is still warning UK education providers: "you must meet certain duties to make sure immigration controls remain effective."



Kevin Brennan, the Further Education Minister, confirmed IT was to blame yesterday when he assured MPs that colleges would not boycott the checks, the Times reported.



He said: "The [checks] are not yet mandatory until a new IT system is in place which will enable the Home Office to check and link up with universities."



The minister was responding to a Home Affairs Select Committee probing the growth of 'bogus' education providers, which set up as 'colleges' to bring people to the UK.



Under the new system, education providers must get a sponsor licence before they can offer places to foreign students, which requires the provider to be subject to checks.



Yet there are concerns that the thorough vetting of colleges cannot be properly logged until the management system for sponsored placements is fully operational.



Tony Millns, chief executive of English UK, the association for accredited English language centres, said the new licensing rules for providers have "obvious loopholes."



He told the committee that "colleges will be able to stay open and be on the register for six months before they are checked" by the UK Border Agency.



But an agency official said: "It is simply not true that colleges can be on the list for six months without being checked. We totally refute any claim that there is a loophole in the new system."



The spokesman added that UK education providers who wish to accept migrants must be approved by an accredited body and have an assessment of their premises, courses and teaching staff.



For their part, non-EU students must prove they can financially support themselves, prove they have education credentials and offer a reference from a recognised education provider.