HC Deb 17 June 1976 vol 913 c241W
Mr. Ian Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what qualifications are required by language and other schools acting as sponsors for the admission of overseas students into the United Kingdom or for extensions of residence; and what steps are taken to check them.

Dr. Summerskill

The criteria for admission or stay as an overseas student are set out in the published Immigration Rules for Control On and After Entry. They provide, among other things, for full-time study atan independent school or any bona fide private educational institution. Qualifications for running a language or other school in the private sector are not laid down nad would be a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science. But if doubt arises about a school that an overseas estudent proposes to attend, our Department makes inquires to establish, for example, whether attendance records are properly kept and attendance certificates are reliable. The outcome of these inquiries is taken into account in deciding individual cases.