UK universities to investigate “bad practice” among agents recruiting students from overseas

LONDON Feb 3: UK universities have decided to takesteps to identify and address “bad practice” among agents employed to attract overseas students. This action comes after a recent controversy sparked by a Sunday Times article alleging several instances of unethical practices, including:

Offering places with lower entry requirements to overseas students compared to domestic applicants.
Recommending foundation courses with lower entry requirements as a backdoor to bypass stricter admission standards.
Universities paying significant sums to agents and private companies, raising concerns about financial incentives influencing admissions decisions.
Following these allegations, there have been significant developments:

Government response: Universities Minister Robert Halfon expressed concern and announced the launch of an investigation into the claims.
Universities’ stance: Vice-chancellors expressed their commitment to working with the government to review their use of agents and identify areas for improvement.
Code of practice update: Universities plan to update their admissions code of practice to explicitly include its applicability to international students.
It’s important to note that this is an ongoing situation, and the nature and scope of the “bad practices” being investigated are still under scrutiny. However, the commitment from both the government and universities to address these concerns suggests that changes can be expected in the future of international student recruitment in the UK.