§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 8 December 2003,Official Report, column 239W, on student visas, what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the reasons for the increased number of (i) applications for student visas and (ii) refusals; and if he will make a statement. [143952]
1111W
§ Mr. MullinThe Government have not directly commissioned any research into the increase in student applications. However, the British Council, which is partly funded by the FCO, has recently carried out research on the results of the Prime Minister's Initiative for international student recruitment which was launched in June 1999. Current indications are that the increases in the number of foreign student visa applications result from the success of the PMI marketing campaign aimed at attracting foreign nationals to study in the United Kingdom.
In 2000 there were 125,139 student applications of which 16.1 per cent. fell for refusal.
In 2002–03 there were 181,905 student applications of which 28.9 per cent. fell for refusal.
All visa applications are assessed individually on their own merits so it is not possible to draw any general conclusions for the rise in the refusal rate. Possible factors might include the abolition of pre-assessment by UK visas (under which applicants who were unlikely to be successful were given the option to withdraw before the application was formally made) and improved methods of detecting forged documents.