Indian Students Abandoned as UK Cancels Univ Licence

Thousands of Indian Students and other-EU Students facing an uncertain situation due to London Metropolitan University's license to admit had been revoked by Britain's immigration authorities citing "serious and Systemic failings" on the part of the varsity.

The London Metropolitan University, which has offices in New Delhi and Chennai, was told that its "highly trusted sponsor" status required to admits international students had been abandoned by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) due to concerns over abuse of rules.

A task force has been set up to help Indian and other non-EU students affected by the revocation, officials said. The University has over 2,000 international students, including Indian Students.

Current Indian students who are in their second or third years of courses will need to transfer to another UK University to continue their courses. It this is not possible, they have to abandon their courses and return to Indian within 60 days, according to the rules.

The London Metropolitan University is one of the major destinations for the Indian Students coming to the UK. Reports over the last two days claimed that the university was about to be striped of the status to admit Indian and other International students.

Universities Minister David Willetts said, "It is important that genuine students who are affected through no fault of their own are offered prompt advice and help, including, if necessary, with finding other institutions at which to finish their studies".

"We are tonight asking Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and universities UK to lead a tack force, which will include UKBA and the NUS. To work with London Metropolitan University to support affected students and enable them to continue their studies in UK. The task force will star work immediately", he added.

The UKBA Spokesman said, "We have been working with them since then, but the latest audit revealed problems with 61% of files randomly sampled".

"British Universities are among the best in the world, and Britain remains a top class destination for top class international Students," the spokesman said.

Allowing London Metropolitan University to continue to sponsor and teach international students was not an option. There are problems with one university, not the whole sector.

Nicola Dandridge, Cheif Executive of Universities UK said, "Our Understanding is that no final decision has yet been made in relation to London Metropolitan University Licence to sponsor international students".