Government Vows Tougher Rules on Overseas Student Recruitment

The government has proposed tougher rules on international student recruitment, including cracking down on “rogue recruitment agents,” in a bid to tackle visa abuse. Universities would be mandated to sign up to a “stringent framework for agents” and could lose their licence to sponsor overseas students if they fail to comply with the measures, the Home Office and Department for Education announced on Thursday. Higher education institutions could lose their ability to sponsor overseas students if they “accept international students who then fail to pass our visa checks, enrol or complete their courses,” the departments said. The proposals would ensure that the UK’s university sector “is used for education, not as a gateway to immigration, with options to go further remaining under consideration,” the government said....