The European subsidiary of an American firm called Educational Testing Services has revealed that they have identified more than 29,000 invalid results and more than 19,000 questionable results in the mandatory English proficiency test.
Britain has suspended the licenses of 57 private education colleges for indulging in the practice.
Minister for immigration and security James Brokenshire said, “I can tell the House that since the start of February, immigration enforcement officers with the support from the National Crime Agency and officials from UK Visas have been conducting a detailed and wide-ranging investigation into actions by organized criminals to falsify English language tests for student visa applicants. They have also investigated a number of colleges and universities for their failure to make sure that the foreign students they have sponsored meet the standards set out in the Immigration Rules.”
He added, “We have told a further two universities – the University of Bedfordshire and the University of West London – that they are no longer allowed to sponsor new students pending further investigations which will decide whether they too should be suspended. We have already removed some 750 bogus colleges from the list of those entitled to bring foreign students to Britain and of these almost 400 we now know were linked to those who obtained invalid ETS certificates. We have tightened up the rules for individual students.”
The minister said the tax department has identified a number of overseas university students earning more than £20,000 a year despite the rule that they must not work more than twenty hours per week during term time.
Source: Times of India
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