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‘Bank balance’ requirement for overseas students

LONDON: Overseas students, including those from India, will now have one more hoop to pass through before they are allowed the privilege of reading at a British university.

Students, on courses for longer than 12 months, will have to show they have sufficient funds to pay their first year of fee, plus £9,600 to cover their first year.

Those wishing to bring their dependants will need to show they have a further £535 per month for each person they bring.

This is bad news not only for the less affluent students but also for Britain’s cash-strapped universities at a time when they are desperately trying to attract foreign students as they pay full fee which is several times more than what their highly subsidised domestic peers do.

According to the government’s own figures, international students contribute £2.5 billion to the U.K. economy in tuition fees alone every year and their overall estimated contribution is in the region of £8.5 billion.

Universities UK, which represents British universities, has protested saying that the new rules are likely to discourage students from the subcontinent and Africa to come to Britain.

It says that many foreign students, especially from Asia and Africa, do not have sufficient savings and work part-time to support their studies.

Its chief executive, Diana Warwick, said universities were not consulted on the issue. A spokesperson for the Immigration Department, however, justified the move arguing that it was “right to ask” foreign students to provide evidence of their financial health.

Critics said this was a classic example of different wings of a supposedly “joined-up government” working at cross purposes.

“It’s ‘joined-up’ nonsense. On the one hand, the government says it is keen to attract foreign students and on the other it is making things more difficult for them,” one university administrator said, commenting on the tighter rules proposed for foreign students under the new points-based immigration system. In future, only students sponsored by an educational institution that has a government licence to recruit foreign students will be allowed to come to Britain.

Applicants will also have to show they have a “proven track record” in the area of study they are applying for.

The government says the aim is to prevent abuse of the students’ visa system.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said tougher sponsorship rules would help the government know “exactly who is coming here to study and to crack down on bogus colleges.”

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‘Bank balance’ requirement for overseas students

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