International students looking to study in UK fed ‘false promises’ by recruitment agents

Overseas university recruitment agents have been accused of making ‘false promises’ to encourage international students to enrol in UK universities.  

Cash-strapped UK universities have been increasingly turning to recruitment agents to find international students to study on their courses, with some universities offering commission of between £2,000 and £8,000 per student.

International students often offer lucrative financial opportunities for UK universities as the fees they can be charged are uncapped unlike for home students, whose fees are capped at £9,535 for the upcoming academic year.

While home fees have lost a third of their real value since 2012 due to inflation, international student fees continue to top up university finances – they were estimated to have added £42 billion to the UK economy in 2021/22.

In some cases, agents have been accused of unethical practices, such as pushing students towards certain courses, regardless of whether the course is ‘the right fit for the student’

Due to growing international competition, however, some overseas recruitment agents have turned to ‘false promises’ to incentivise international students into enrolling in their affiliated institutions.

In some cases, agents have been accused of unethical practices, such as pushing students towards certain courses, regardless of whether the course is “the right fit for the student”.

One 27-year-old Digital Marketing student Ajit recalls being told by a recruitment agent that he would be “guaranteed” an automatic extension of his post-study work visa.

“They told me, I will stay for five years and then I can go directly to ‘indefinite leave to remain’, which is a fake promise,” he told the Financial Times.

We will follow up this case incredibly vigorously because we never want to be giving the wrong advice and guidance to a student

Rob Grimshaw, StudyIn Chief Executive

The student, who used an Indian-based agency working for the StudyIn UK consultancy firm, was even told that Oxford Brookes University is a part of the University of Oxford, despite the two universities being completely unrelated.

StudyIn’s Chief Executive Rob Grimshaw said, in response: “We will follow up this case incredibly vigorously because we never want to be giving the wrong advice and guidance to a student.”

Grimshaw added that “all of our agents have to go through the British Council certification process and StudyIn’s own code of conduct during onboarding”, and that the firm works “enormously hard to train our staff and ensure we maintain levels of quality across the network”.

Having moved to England for two years based on these ‘false promises’, the student in question returned to his village in southern India with no job and a Digital Marketing degree that has simply left him burdened by student debt.

An estimated two-thirds of international students join UK universities through recruitment agents.

Very few higher education institutions refrain from using such agents, though both Oxford and Cambridge claim they do not work with recruitment agents

The University of Greenwich spent £28 million on agent commissions in 2022/23, while De Montfort University in Leicester paid out £17.1 million.

Very few higher education institutions refrain from using such agents, though both Oxford and Cambridge claim they do not work with recruitment agents.

Nevertheless, the work of these agents continues to go largely unchecked with Vincenzo Raimo, the former Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Reading, saying that there is “no regulation in reality” for the firms.

From this summer, the names of recruitment agents are set to appear on visa applications for international students as part of the requirements for ‘confirmation of acceptance’ documents.

This forms a part of the Home Office’s plans to “implement measures to ensure international students, the institutions they attend, and the immigration system are protected from those who wish to exploit it”.