Intervention after apparent sponsorship breaches heralds stricter thresholds that some fear will turn institutions into ‘proxy border control agents’

More UK universities have been placed on “action plans” because of student visa sponsorship breaches, as experts warn of a more “hard-line” approach from the Home Office.

The University of Essex and Glasgow Caledonian University have become the latest to face intervention by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

Action plans are enacted when there has been an unspecified breach of sponsor requirements. Further breaches could result in a university’s licence to enrol international students being revoked.

Meanwhile, the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), which is in the process of changing its name to the University of Lancashire, was put on a six-month action plan around December 2024, and is still on the list. All three institutions said they were confident issues would soon be resolved.

Jonathan Hill, a senior manager at immigration law firm Fragomen, told Times Higher Education that the rising number of action plans was partly due to delayed effects from the Covid-19 pandemic – with students who withdrew during that period still being picked up in the data.

In addition, the number of asylum claims associated with students at particular institutions can also trigger a closer inspection from UKVI, he said.

But Hill said that UKVI has also clearly stepped up its audits of compliance metrics such as visa refusal, enrolment and course completion rates.

“We are seeing quite a stringent view on these audits by UKVI and they’re taking quite a hard-line approach when it comes to how they’re assessing institutions, so that can also cause an action plan.”

To sponsor visas for international students, institutions must achieve a visa refusal rate of less than 10 per cent, a course enrolment rate of at least 90 per cent and a course completion rate of at least 85 per cent.

Labour’s recent immigration White Paper proposed raising these minimum pass requirements by 5 per cent each as part of attempts to tackle “visa misuse” – though these changes are not yet in place.

“The White Paper isn’t something that’s directly affecting things at the moment, but I strongly believe it’s in the back of [UKVI’s] mind,” added Hill.

Jenna Mittelmeier, senior lecturer in international education at the University of Manchester, said the document made clear that, despite the Labour government’s more welcoming rhetoric on international students, it was increasingly targeting them as part of wider hostile policies towards migrants.

“We are likely to see increased actions against international students from the Home Office so long as anti-migrant sentiments become more and more embedded within government policies and society,” she said.

Experts have warned that the suggested new compliance thresholds might mean that UK universities have to stop recruiting students from “riskier” countries.

Glasgow Caledonian has already paused recruitment on to some of its courses that are seen as most at risk of non-compliance, according to reports.

Mittelmeier said UK universities are increasingly being positioned as “proxy border control agents”, which risks worsening inequality in how UKVI requirements are interpreted.

“We have ample evidence that UK visa acceptances, rejections and surveillance disproportionately marginalise international students from certain world regions, particularly those from many countries in Africa and South Asia.

“We should be concerned that universities may label this as a market risk rather recognising it as a human inequality.”

A spokesperson for Essex said UKVI raised some “isolated issues” during a routine assessment and that the action plan will have no impact on existing students.

“We had already taken measures ahead of receiving the UKVI’s action plan. The plan acknowledges many of our improvements, which will be monitored through the action plan period.

“There’s no expected disruption to our admissions services and we’re getting everything ready to give our international students a fantastic welcome this October and January.”

Glasgow Caledonian said it was confident it can successfully deliver the requirements of the action plan, which was sparked following an audit visit in November 2024.

“We take our compliance responsibilities very seriously as an institution that welcomes international students, and are committed to ensuring that all of our students have the opportunity to succeed and thrive,” added a spokesperson.

A Uclan spokesperson said it was awaiting the outcome of its recent audit.