Cracking Down on the British Visa Factories
The Bogus English Language Schools in the United Kingdom
Jun 7, 2009
Upon arrival in the UK, the first thing many foreign students do is sign up for an English language course. If they are serious about learning the language, they can apply for a student visa, allowing them to stay legally for two years and also work a limited number of hours a week, although many work far more hours than is permitted by law. Some illegal immigrants also use student visas.
The 'Visa Shop' London Language Schools
While there are plenty of recognised institutions offering decent courses, there are also many unaccredited, badly-run schools that ruthlessly take money from "students" and process their visa applications, without those "students" ever having to take a class. Officially, an 80% class attendance record is needed to be eligible for a student visa, but many students never go at all.
A walk down Oxford Street, London's busiest street, will reveal to the eye a number of notorious schools above shops and offices, offering foreign nationals the chance to pretend to be a student in order to stay legally in the country.
Evendine College, London
One of the most famous, or infamous, cases of corrupt goings-on was Evendine College. Evendine was at one time the biggest language school in London, with five campuses. In 2003, while under investigation by the Home Office, Evendine suddenly closed down without warning.
"I went to work one morning," says Paul, a former teacher, "and the doors were locked. There was a notice on the door and there were students queuing outside anxious to know what had happened. The owners had continued enrolling students on courses and taking their money, almost certainly knowing that the school was going to be closed down." An estimated 3000 students lost their money.
The Evening Standard newspaper exposed the school as providing false information to immigration authorities and allowing registered students to work illegally.
Using Language Schools in the UK to Obtain and Extend Visas
For many years, illegal immigrants entering the United Kingdom have tried to obtain or extend a visa via the dodgy language school method. A study by the group, UK Migration Watch in December 2004, makes for interesting reading.
It claims that there were 5550 students that year from Sri Lanka who were granted visas initially, but there were 6115 student visa extensions. The figures for Zimbabwean nationals were equally eyebrow-raising. Four thousand, two hundred and seventy students were admitted, but 25,420 student visa extensions were granted, while 1690 Jamaican students were given visas, but 27,525 were extended.
Many people believe that the British government has ignored this issue in order to keep inflation down and to help rebalance age demographics.
Dealing with the Problem of 'Dodgy' Language Schools in the UK
Occasionally, articles will appear in the British press concerning this issue. Each time, the government promises to crack down, but the schools still continue. While there definitely appears to be fewer "visa" schools than there used to be; naming and shaming the bad institutions and then shutting them down is not an easy task.
In an attempt to combat the problem, an organisation, known as QuiTE (Quality in TESOL Education) has been recently set up to monitor the quality of English language schools. It remains to be seen just how effective this will be.
Accredited Language Schools in the UK
The most reliable and best-known accreditation body is the British Council and most "British Council" schools are usually reliable, although there are some schools that may not be fully deserving of their "British Council" status.
There are schools which claim to be accredited, but by a lesser-known organisation, such as the BAC (British Accreditation Council). It is now set to become compulsory for all schools to be British Council-accredited, as the government promises to get tough, yet again, on these sordid practices.
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