The decision confirms that the University can continue to issue Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) letters to new international students. It follows a detailed audit by UKVI of the University’s procedures for the management and monitoring of international students.

Welcoming the decision Bill Rammell, the University of Bedfordshire’s Vice Chancellor, said:

“I was always confident that our procedures for monitoring international students were robust, and I’m pleased that UKVI’s thorough and detailed audit has confirmed this.

“We take our immigration compliance responsibilities extremely seriously. We cooperated with UKVI throughout the audit and I’m delighted that, following this decision, we can now resume issuing CAS letters to new international students.

“We recruit large numbers of international students because of our excellent student experience and graduate employability success. We can now provide more opportunities such as this.”

The University’s ability to issue CAS letters to international students was paused by the Home Office on 24 June 2014, when the Minister for Immigration and Security made a statement in Parliament regarding student visas. The Minister stated that the University would not sponsor new students pending the outcome of the UKVI investigation.

The University’s licence to recruit international students remained intact and was not suspended, and current international students were not affected in any way by the short pause in the University’s ability to issue new CAS letters.

The University of Bedfordshire was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2013 – the highest form of national recognition for universities in the UK.

Bill Rammell added:

“Our courses are driven by world-leading research and are taught by some of the leading academics in their field. The University provides students of all backgrounds with high quality teaching, outstanding facilities, great support and an excellent experience.

“And 92% of Bedfordshire students find employment or are in further study soon after they graduate – one of the highest rates in the country.”