London campuses targeted by Tory MPs as ‘backdoor visa routes’

The shadow home secretary has hit out at “second-tier universities” that operate campuses in London, insinuating they are being used as an immigration route by non-genuine students. 

In a video posted on X, Chris Philp, also MP for Croydon South, said an “astonishing number” of universities from across the UK had established London campuses “very often with extremely large numbers of international students”. 

The video showed him walking around some of the campus buildings in Canary Wharf, quoting how many students are thought to be enrolled at the university branches.

“It’s a decent-sized building but I don’t think there are 10,000 students studying in there, of whom, it turns out, 8,700 are from overseas,” he said, referring to a building occupied by the University of the West of Scotland and York St John University. 

Philp went on to ask an international student if they “see like 5,000 students around here” and if they believed some students “just want to get the visa to come in”. 

The video then showed him visiting the University of Sunderland’s campus, where he said he was “struggling to believe 5,000 people study in that building behind me”. 

In an accompanying post, the shadow home secretary wrote: “I’m concerned these international students using ‘London campuses’ are using study to get a visa.”

As visa sponsors, universities are required to monitor international students’ attendance levels and students risk losing their visas if they fail to show up to classes. 

Another Conservative MP, Jack Ranking, wrote on X: “Below is one of the University of Cumbria’s campuses. Where in Cumbria* is it? Nowhere near – it is in Tower Hamlets which is 288 miles away.

“This is just one example of London outposts allowing postgraduate students to bypass immigration rules and work in this country.”

About 20 universities that have a main campus outside London operate branches in the capital, many of which have been set up in recent years as institutions attempt to diversify their revenue streams in the face of growing financial challenges.

A spokesperson from Universities UK International said: “Several universities have expanded their offers beyond their main campuses to meet student demand. Wherever they are offered, degrees must meet stringent measures for quality – and all international students must meet the same very high standards to be granted a study visa, wherever they are based.”

“Concerns about London branch campuses tend to flare up whenever the migration debate heats up, and this latest intervention is part of that wider political moment,” said Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George’s, University of London.  

She said the issue “needs to be kept in proportion”.

“London is a global city built on high‑value services, offering international students access to professional networks, placements and graduate job markets unmatched anywhere else in the UK. It’s no surprise that universities outside the capital want a foothold here.”

Universities’ London branches often comprise classrooms in rented office buildings, as opposed to stereotypical sprawling university campuses, and institutions tend to offer low-cost courses at these locations that do not require complex facilities, such as business programmes. 

Critics have previously accused universities of offering courses of “dubious quality” at these outposts.

“Well‑regulated and properly integrated branch campuses can widen opportunity and offer targeted pathways into the labour market,” said Beech. 

“But the sector has to be honest that poor‑quality provision or misleading recruitment is unacceptable, and must work collectively to uphold the standards expected of a UK higher education.”

Beech added that Philp’s rhetoric, which has been mirrored by other members of the Conservative Party, could risk damaging the UK’s international reputation. 

“London’s higher education system is one of the country’s strongest international assets, and responsible institutions operating legitimate London centres add real firepower to the capital.”

A spokesperson from York St John University said the institution “wholly rejected” Philp's “inaccurate claims” that students were using the campus to access visas and that his post “demonstrates a lack of understanding of the UK higher education sector and the economic, social and cultural value that international students bring”.

"He also fails to recognise that no university teaches all its students at once; work placements and timetables are structured so that only a proportion of the student body will be in class at any point in time.

“Like all UK universities we are subject to strict UKVI regulations to ensure international student visa holders are fully enrolled and attend teaching sessions. Our 97 per cent course completion rate shows that a higher than average number of our students go on to successfully graduate.”

A University of the West of Scotland spokesperson said: “It is important that public debate in this area is informed by evidence rather than ill-informed conjecture.”

They added that the university has a 96 per cent course completion rate – “clear evidence that students are genuine, engaged and successfully completing their studies”.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com