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A London-based university, whose licence to admit and teach Indian and other non-EU students was revoked last week, has decided to mount a legal challenge against the decision taken by Britain’s immigration officials.
The London Metropolitan University’s licence was revoked last week by the UK Border Agency due to what it called “serious and systemic failures’’.
The decision affects 359 Indian students, who are among nearly 2,600 non-EU students enrolled at the university.
London Metropolitan University Vice-Chancellor Malcolm Gillies said in a statement after a meeting of the university’s board of governors last night, that it had instructed solicitors to launch “urgent legal action to challenge the revocation so that its students can return to study as a matter of urgency’’.
The statement said that the university has decided to launch legal proceedings “in the strongest possible terms” after reading the UK Border Agency report on the revocation and the “evidence’’.
The statement mentioned several points to deny wrong-doing on the university’s part.
Gillies said: “London Met will fight this revocation, which is based on a highly flawed report by the UKBA.
“The university will continue to give top priority to the interests of our international students who have been so distressed by this precipitate action.”
The London Metropolitan University said there was “no evidence of systemic failings”, as claimed by UKBA, and added that the UKBA’s claim that the university “did not address serious and systemic failings that we identified 6 months ago” was simply not true.
The university statement said: “The UK has a long-standing reputation of educational excellence and for attracting genuine students from a diverse international market.
“It is not in anyone’s interests for there to be a system in place which constantly changes and which forces universities, their management and their staff automatically to treat students with suspicion until proven otherwise“.
It added: “London Met is concerned that the current immigration policy is creating confusion across universities in the country and irrevocable damage to the UK’s globally recognised education sector.”
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