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Crackdown on student visas will curb 'unpleasant' abuses, says minister | UK news. Damian Green, who has defended plans for a crackdown on the student visa system. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA Too many bogus students are coming to stay in the UK and the abuse must stop, immigration minister Damian Green said today. He defended plans for a crackdown on the student visa system, insisting that research had unearthed "unpleasant" abuses.

Student leaders have attacked moves to stop tens of thousands of people coming to the UK to study as an "absolute travesty". But Green said the government's plans to cut the number of non-EU students coming to the UK were vital to stop people using bogus courses as a way into the country. Scrapping the present regime will mean tens of thousands of students from outside the EU will be forced to go home after finishing their studies. Only highly trusted sponsors will be able to offer courses below degree level to adults, and inspections will be made more rigorous to ensure compliance. "The potential for abuse is clearly enormous," he said. Universities hit out at visa plans for foreign students | Education | The Observer. Universities across the country will have to close vital science and engineering courses and sack staff unless the home secretary, Theresa May, drops controversial plans to limit UK visas for international students, a powerful alliance of vice-chancellors has warned.

In a letter to the Observer, 16 vice-chancellors express their "profound concern" at the proposals, making clear that they will have a devastating effect on universities' incomes and their ability to run the best courses for British, as well as overseas, students. Their intervention will stoke a cabinet battle that has pitted May, who is committed to cut net immigration from 215,000 to 100,000 by 2015, against the business secretary, Vince Cable, and the universities minister, David Willetts.

Cable and Willetts are known to be deeply concerned about the damage to universities and the economy if the £5bn-a-year income universities get from overseas students is choked off. Cuts in the number of international students spell disaster | Letters | From the Observer | The Observer. We write to express profound concern at the damage that would be caused to the UK economy and to our universities if the government's proposals to reduce the number of international students coming to the UK are implemented.

Universities are fully aware of public concern about abuse of immigration rules. Any abuse must be tackled robustly and Universities UK will co-operate fully in ensuring that cases of abuse are minimised. But evidence shows that international students in universities overwhelmingly do not abuse the system. International students coming to universities contribute more than £5bn each year to the UK economy through tuition fees and off-campus expenditure. Reductions in student numbers will lead to reductions in income and jobs. Without international students, many university courses, particularly science and engineering ones, may no longer be viable. Stub out the tobacco claims Display bans have been successfully introduced in Ireland, Canada and most of Australia.

Are universities in danger of scaring away overseas students? | Higher Education Network | Guardian Professional. The home secretary is proposing a cut in the number of people allowed to enter the country on student visas as part of a plan to reduce immigration into the UK. The proposal has been decried by the academic community and some MPs, who claim that sharp cuts in overseas student numbers would hinder the ability of UK universities to offer world class learning and have repercussions for the national economy. Everyone seems to be skirting around the reason for proposed cut - that people from some countries are more prone to overstaying their student visas than others.

They are regarded as a 'high flight' risk, being more likely to disappear during or after their studies. Unfortunately, the debate so far unfairly implicates all overseas students, to the detriment of the UK's reputation overseas. Governments of other countries (that sponsor large numbers of students in the UK) are aware of what is being said in our media. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Privatisation nightmare looms at London Metropolitan University|25Aug12.

Workers picketing London Metropolitan University during a strike in 2009 (Pic: Guy Smallman) London Metropolitan University looks set to become the first British university taken over by a private company, reports have indicated. Our management, over the last year, has gone out of its way to tout our university services to the private sector—everything except teaching, research and the vice chancellor’s office. They are pushing a so-called “shared service” model, and are at pains to deny it is either outsourcing or privatisation. Bosses argue that “the shared-service facility will be 100 percent owned by London Met”.

They claim that “over time, as we scale-up the service, other participatory universities will be invited to join”. Management’s emphasis on a “shared service” is key. The bidding for a £74 million contract to run IT, libraries, student services, consultancy and careers advice is now taking place. Model. London Metropolitan University's visa licence revoked. 30 August 2012Last updated at 13:16 ET Emmanuel Egwu, student: "People are panicking. What is going to happen now? " More than 2,000 students potentially face removal after a university had its licence to teach and recruit students from outside the EU revoked. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) says student attendance at London Metropolitan University is not being monitored and that many have no right to be here.

As a result, the university will no longer be allowed to authorise visas. The university said it would be challenging UKBA's claims. A task force has been set up to help students affected by the decision which means some 2,000 overseas non-EU students will have to find an alternative institution to sponsor them or they will be told that they will be removed from the UK. The government says it wants to assess how many students will be successfully reallocated to alternative institutions before the UKBA sends out notices giving them 60 days to leave. 'Panic and heartbreak' Analysis. London Metropolitan University challenges loss of sponsorship licence. UKBA decision to revoke London Metropolitan University's licence affects its 2,600 overseas students.

Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images London Metropolitan University is launching legal action against the UK Border Agency's decision to revoke its licence to sponsor international students. The university said that it was taking action so its students could return to study "as a matter of urgency". The legal challenge, which could take the form of a judicial review, sets the scene for a clash between the government and the university sector over the rules for overseas students. The government stripped London Met of "highly trusted" status last week after the UKBA found a quarter of overseas students it checked on for an audit did not have permission to stay in the country.

The decision to revoke the university's licence affected up to 2,600 overseas students and could result in a £30m annual loss, London Met said. London Metropolitan University to take legal action against UK Border Agency. London Metropolitan University has announced it is to commence legal action against the UK Border Agency's decision to revoke its licence to sponsor international students. The institution said on Monday night that it was making the move so that its students can return to study "as a matter of urgency". A press release posted on the university's website stated that after a "through review of UKBAs 'evidence'" London Met was challenging the agency's decision. Further details of the legal action would be announced later in the week the university said, stating there was "no evidence of systemic failings" and that they had taken "every reasonable measure" to meet UKBA's published requirements.

Vice-chancellor Prof Malcolm Gillies was quoted as saying: "London Met will fight this revocation, which is based on a highly flawed report by the UKBA. London Metropolitan University staff and students stage Home Office protest. The demonstrators were protesting against a decision to revoke London Metropolitan University’s licence to sponsor foreign students. Photograph: Sang Tan/AP Link to video: London Met University students protest outside the Home Office Up to 200 students, lecturers and staff from London Metropolitan University (LMU) demonstrated outside the Home Office and Downing Street in protest over the revocation of the institution's ability to host foreign students. Foreign students, who must transfer their studies to another university in the next few months or face being deported back to their country of origin without a completed degree, were among those leading the demonstration and said they refused to be treated like "criminals" and "illegal immigrants".

However, a legal challenge brought by LMU could temporarily reverse the Home Office's decision while high court judges consider a judicial review. "[I am] thinking about personal legal action ... "I live in fear every single day of the UKBA. @markucu.