Uni warned over foreign student sponsor breach

The University of Glasgow has been warned it has three months to fix several compliance issues with its sponsor system for foreign students.

Problems were raised in a Home Office audit of the university's systems in June.

The university has now put together a taskforce to respond to the issues and process student visa applications. The details of the problems have not been disclosed.

The union Unison said that before this group was assembled, four members of staff were processing applications for more than 13,000 students.

Branch secretary Kirsteen Fraser said the process had "ground to a halt", a scenario she said staff had repeatedly warned the university about.

"We've gone from a situation where we had 3,000 sponsored students 10 years ago to 13,000 in 2024," she said.

"What has happened is the senior management group has failed to invest in staff and in systems at the university.

"The focus for a long time has been constant growth without upscaling."

The university said the audit had raised "several compliance issues" that needed to be addressed in the next three months.

A spokesperson added: "We are confident that we can complete the required actions in the specified timescale.

"In the meantime, all activities continue as normal."

The audit was carried out by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), which is part of the Home Office.

Institutions that want to host foreign students - a vital part of university finances in Scotland - have to comply with sponsorship duties.

These duties include doing everything possible to ensure students are genuine, that they comply with immigration rules and see their courses through to the end.

If there is a breach of these conditions, UKVI will examine the circumstances and decide what action is appropriate.

A serious breach, one that "constitutes a serious threat to immigration control" for instance, could result in the university losing its sponsor licence.

Unison's Kirsteen Fraser said the union hoped that the impact of the situation on students will be an "absolute minimum".

She said the union had faith that staff would be able to resolve problems.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is essential that sponsoring institutions comply with their sponsorship duties to avoid abuse of the system."

Ms Fraser said the taskforce assembled following the audit was put together with little consultation and that staff felt pressured to take part.

"That's a sign of how badly the university has managed this, they've panicked," she said.

She said the university "absolutely" had the money to properly resource its sponsor system.

"We would expect this to be a wake up call," she added. "Our members forewarned that this could happen for a long time.

"It's coming at the worst time of year - not just Christmas but it's exam time, there are students starting in January.

"This is just another crisis to deal with."