1. Students, visas and us

2. Contents The background The rules Our approach to compliance
A School perspective
Questions/discussion

3. What the papers said in 2012

6. The policy

7. Electoral Pledge... Definition Challenges
... to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands” by (Con, 2010)
Definition
The difference between the number of people entering and leaving the UK
Challenges
Agreeing dataset! (eg Passenger Survey)
252,000 ‘net migrants’ in 2010
Students make up the largest component
EU workers are uncontrolled
Emigration also affect the statistics

9. Context 251,334 non-EU students in the UK (HESA 2008/9)
£2.2 billion in fees alone
Manchester had 6,401 registered students
This year Manchester = 8, c£130 million income...

10. Key policy timeline

11. Key policy timeline February 2008
Government introduced points-based immigration system
March 2009
Tier 4 (students) introduced
February 2010
End of visa letters and introduction of the Sponsor Management System (SMS)
April 2010
Restriction on courses offered unless ‘Highly Trusted Status’
March 2011
All HEIs must achieve Highly Trusted Status

12. Key policy timeline April 2011
New accreditation by statutory body criteria for sponsors
New English language requirements
July 2011
Sponsors need to vouch for academic progression for studies of same or lower academic level
October 2011
UKBA publishes list of unsatisfactory financial institutions, affecting students from India, Pakistan & the Philippines needing to prove finances
April 2012
Visa limit of five years for study on taught degrees
Tier 1 (post study work) closed
Provision made for student ‘entrepreneurs’

13. Criteria for Highly Trusted Sponsor Status
Mandatory Criteria
Visa refusal rate
Less than 20%
Enrolment rate
Higher than 90%
Course completion rate
More than 85%
Declaration of academic progression
100%
Core Measurable Requirements
Start with 100 points. Must score more than 70 out of 100
Refusal rate
Max 20 points deducted if more than 15%
Enrolment rate
Max 15 points deducted if below 93%
Course completion rate
Max 15 points deducted if below 90%

14. Compliance

15. Admissions Has always been about academic viability but now also...
Visa eligibility
- Prior UK study/immigration history
- Viable English level
Reporting to the UKBA
- Visa refusals
- Fraudulent applications

16. On arrival Passport checks - Correct sponsor - Correct visa type
- Expiry date
Verification of original qualifications
Reporting to the UKBA
- No shows

17. Once studying Attendance monitoring - Ten points of expected contact
- Are they studying?
- ‘Do you know where they are?’
Managing the population through visa expiry dates
Reporting to the UKBA
- Withdrawals
- Interruptions
And at any point....inspector calls?

18. For all the above UNIAC audits (two) found us wanting
population selection for monitoring exercise has been a challenge (but we’re getting there)
impact on student experience
and all the additional work...

19. A School perspective

20. A School perspective Size of the task
- Recent work undertaken to ensure compliance
- Challenges
- Are we doing things right? – the fear of getting it wrong
Conflict of priorities
Partnership
Positive benefits
The future

21. Ongoing challenges to policy - are students migrants?

25. Thank you