Bucks New University student visa sponsor licence suspended

The Home Office has announced that it has suspended Bucks New University’s student visa sponsor licence. 

Student sponsor licences are issued by the Home Office to allow educational institutions to enrol international students who require a visa to study in the UK.

The suspension comes into immediate effect, and the university has 20 working days to respond to the decision. If it is unable to show why its licence should be reinstated, the licence will be revoked.

The Home Office has not commented on why it has removed the licence, but has said students currently sponsored by the university will be permitted to continue their studies while the suspension is in place, as long as their permission to stay remains valid.

The suspension also does not affect domestic students or students on other types of immigration permission that do not rely on sponsorship.

New compliance metrics for UK universities enrolling foreign students were implemented from June, stoking fears about the potential scale of breaches amid rocketing visa refusal rates.

Bucks New has previously faced criticism for its franchised provisions in recent years. An investigation into potential student loan fraud connected to its subcontracted courses was described by former education minister Bridget Phillipson as “one of the biggest financial scandals universities have faced”.

The university previously had its licence to recruit students from outside the European Union suspended in 2015 after it fell foul of rules on visa refusals.

At the time, the university said its visa refusal rate for international students had exceeded the maximum allowed by the government.

A spokesperson for Bucks New University said: “We take our responsibilities as a student sponsor extremely seriously and are fully committed to maintaining robust compliance arrangements.

"Many of the issues raised by the Home Office relate to historic international student recruitment activity. Since the appointment of a new vice-chancellor and executive team in 2025, the university has strengthened its governance, compliance and oversight arrangements, with many improvements implemented before the UKVI audit took place this year.

"We are engaging fully and constructively with the Home Office throughout the review process and will continue to provide evidence of the changes we have made. Our priority is to reassure current international students that they can continue and complete their studies as normal.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com