A three-month investigation by The British Wire has exposed a network of fraudulent educational institutions exploiting Britain's student visa system, enrolling thousands of overseas students in courses that exist only on paper.
Our undercover reporters visited 12 institutions across England that were registered as 'Higher Education Providers' with the Office for Students. At eight of them, we found no evidence of regular teaching, no functioning libraries, and students who openly admitted they were in the UK primarily to work.
"The system is being gamed on an industrial scale," said a former Home Office immigration officer who assisted with our investigation. "The regulatory framework simply wasn't designed to deal with this level of organised fraud."
The Office for Students has confirmed it is reviewing the registrations of several institutions identified in our reporting. The Home Office said it takes "the integrity of the immigration system extremely seriously" and is cooperating with the investigation.
