The Huffington Post (June 4, 2012)
Lucy Sherriff
Follow: Immigration, student fees, Students, Jon Ashworth,
Universities, Bac, International Students, Private Colleges, UK News
International students say they are being cheated out of thousands of
pounds by private British colleges with no avenue to reclaim the money,
a Huffington Post investigation has uncovered.
Overseas students applying to study in Britain are finding themselves
forced to pay tuition fees twice in order to secure a place at their
chosen college, while others have discovered after arriving in the
country they have been enrolled on the wrong course.
Education lawyer Salima Mawji, who has fought several colleges in court
over such issues, says the system is "grossly unfair" towards students,
and that colleges are to blame for not ensuring students are aware of
the terms and conditions.
There are also fears that the issue could have further negative
repercussions for Britain's international student sector, which brings
around £5bn into the economy, amid fears the government's new net
immigration policy could have a detrimental knock-on effect.
Labour MP Jon Ashworth has expressed his "deep concern" at the findings
of the investigation.
"If we are putting more hurdles in the way of the students then that is
going to be to the detriment of the wider UK economy," he said.
The Huffington Post UK spoke to a number of students who have lost
thousands of pounds after they took to online message boards to share
their horror stories.
One student, Elvis Ekatah from Nigeria, saw £3,750 go down the drain
after he paid the London School of Business and Finance his tuition
fees in advance.
But when his elderly father became ill and his sponsor withdrew his
financial support, Ekatah went to withdraw from the course. In the
meantime his study visa had been rejected due to insufficient funds,
but he was told by the college he was not eligible for a refund under
their terms and conditions.
The UK Border Agency stipulates if a study visa is rejected, colleges
are legally obliged to issue a refund.
"When I applied to go to the college I was not given any terms and
conditions", he said. "And now I can't get the money back and I have
no-one to help me."
The London School of Business and Finance would not return any of the
Huffington Post UK's calls, despite numerous messages being left.
However Ekatah is not alone.
Mawji, who is a partner at Match Solicitors firm, says she represents
many students who have similar problems.
"Students are being recruited abroad by UK colleges through
international agents. The students are asked to pay fees in advance
before they travel to the UK," she said.
"They then come over and discover either that the course doesn't
actually match what they expect or they find that as soon as they
arrive there is a further demand for payment which they were not aware
of and which can sometimes be quite substantial.
"I had a case where my client came from India and he'd enrolled in a
college here. Originally he was told he would have to pay £1,800 so he
did, came over and then as soon as he finished the first part of the
course the college demanded a further £1,800. He contacted the agent
and asked why they hadn't told him and they simply replied 'Well you
didn't ask me'.
"That's not an uncommon problem unfortunately."
But Mawji says her real concern is international students being
provided with the wrong information by the agencies who are recruiting
them in their home country.
"This information quite often doesn't stipulate the correct contractual
rights or the correct fee structures - or even sometimes the correct
courses."
Mawji warns the colleges are not ensuring the agencies they use are
acting responsibly.
Another student, Salvador Payumo from the Philippines, contacted the
Huffington Post UK after the Impact International College in Reading
refused to refund the £1,800 he paid as a deposit.
Consultancy agency Davao Link, whose offices are based in the
Philippines, recommended the school but after his student visa was
denied Payumo decided not to apply again.
Without Payumo's knowledge, the agency requested another Confirmation
of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) letter from the college so he would be
able to reapply for a visa.
When Payumo tried to get his tuition fee refund, he was told by the
college he had violated the terms and conditions by applying for
another CAS but not applying for a visa. The college said in an email:
"We issued you a new CAS for a fresh visa application so a refund is
not applicable in your case. There is no refund in cases of
administrative error."
On the college's website, the terms and conditions state:
"There is absolutely NO REFUND whatever the exceptional circumstances
if the student for whatever reason fails to apply for the visa or
changes their mind about applying for a visa even if the College
changes the course or course structure or if the UKBA introduces new
rules that may affect your application."
Payumo told the college he did not request a new CAS and he was unaware
the agency had done so.
"My trust in UK colleges right now is fully devastated after Impact
International College denied me unjustly of my tuition fee refund. But
I am not alone - there are others who have been denied a refund for the
same reason."
The principal of the Reading college has since told HuffPost: "We shall
look into this matter but we do need the name of the student and if you
can give us that we shall reply to you ans [sic] we have never withheld
a student fee in over 25 years of busiiness [sic] and unfortunatly
[sic] the agency you talk about was deleted from our agency list due to
malpractice."
Mawji is now calling for an independent body for students to go to.
"The British Accreditation Council should take a more responsible role
in ensuring these colleges are not misleading students in this way.
Within their structure they could certainly have some sort of appeal or
complaint body these students could go to that could make a binding
decision on the college and the student regarding refunding fees.
"Students don't know where to go to. It's grossly unfair to come from
an international country and then have to get involved in the judicial
system here. That's a pretty tall order and in any event, they're
already paying a lot of money for their courses and then to have to
meet legal fees on top of that as well.
"There is legal aid but through the recent legal services act it has
been slashed to pieces. It is very difficult to get help in education
matters. There is an immediate assumption that students who study
internationally have got money."
Education experts, politicians and charities are now backing calls for
an independent appeals body for international students.
MP Jon Ashworth has already told HuffPost UK he is willing to offer his
support to such a body.
"I am deeply concerned at the signal the regime for international
students sends out across the world. If it's now the case that because
of this, students are getting refused and yet they've already paid
fees, there has to be some sort of system in place for students to be
able to reclaim those fees.
"The competition for international students is intense because
countries such as Australia and the US know how important it is to
their economies. But if we are putting more hurdles in the way of the
students then that is going to be to the detriment of the wider UK
economy."
David Kahtan, managing director of ForeignStudents.com has also backed
having an organisation students can turn to: "Students should have a
place to go to if they are unhappy with a decision, as genuine mistakes
and mitigating circumstances may prevent the student from taking up
their college place and a refund of fees would be appropriate.
"Such a body supervised by the BAC is a good idea, helping to safeguard
the UK not only as a leading educational destination, but also
upholding its reputation of 'fair play'."
Although the BAC does have a complaints procedure, it has no regulatory
powers, and students can only come to the body for help if the college
has been accredited by the BAC - which many aren't.
Gina Hobson, chief executive of the BAC, said the charity would be
eager to see an independent regulating body.
"At present, there are no set government standards which refer
specifically to private FE or HE providers. BAC would be keen to see a
comprehensive scheme developed to safeguard students who attend private
colleges of further and higher education in the UK.
"We have been working in tandem with bodies including the UK Council
for International Student Affairs and the British Council to press
relevant government departments to put such a system in place."
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