While countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand — soughtafter destinations for higher studies among Indian students — have either almost sealed their borders or imposed tons of restrictions amid the pandemic, the united kingdom has been taking in students with mild quarantine conditions Students can even attend the united kingdom without taking the IELTS (International English Testing System) as several of the country’s colleges/universities which had been offering courses on the idea of the purpose system and their own internal English test and not IELTS before the pandemic, did so even during.
However, several unscrupulous travel agents in Punjab and Haryana are misusing the purpose system and offering hefty packages to those whose aim isn’t to review within the UK but reach there on student visa then work there instead. Consultants say that these agents are hampering the interests of several genuine students who want to travel to the united kingdom for study purposes UK universities are offering courses with or without IELTS on the idea of the purpose system and internal English proficiency test. a minimum of 70 points are required for a student to become eligible for taking admission there. during this point system, 30 points are for Confirmation of Acceptance (CAS), which is provided by the university to the scholar , 10 points for sufficient funds within the accounts of the scholar or his/her family in order that the scholar can pursue his/her studies within the UK, 10 points are given for medium of instruction of his/her study at India like proof of 70% to 80% within the English subject in school XII, and remaining 20 points for other factors like how well students fare within the university’s own test, etc.” said Chitresh Dhawan, owner of Dhawan Educational in Amritsar, one among the oldest consultancies for studying abroad within the state.
“Many universities have started rejecting applications from Punjab and Haryana because these agents are selling fraudulent packages to many non genuine students by preparing forged papers for funds and other documents to point out eligibility of the scholars to require admission in universities there,” he said They are particularly luring those that failed in clearing IELTS, which is mandatory in every country including many universities within the UK, and offering them packages of Rs 18-20 lakh which incorporates one year fee of the university and other expenses including travelling,” he added.
“This is just too high a price as normally one year fee costs a students between Rs 13 to 14 lakh but under this package system these agents are charging Rs 4 to six lakh etc. from mostly ingenuine students,” said Gurpreet Singh, another consultant based in Kapurthala, adding that it’s quite common now in Punjab that an outsized number of these getting to the united kingdom on study visa aren’t going for studying purposes but to succeed in there and earn money.
“There are reports that students aren’t attending their classes after landing there and that they start working to earn, which is creating a really wrong impression of Indian students, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, within the records of those universities. Now they’re watching every student from Punjab suspiciously and a few of universities have already stopped taking Punjabi students,” said Dhawan.
Gurpal Singh Oppal, a UK-based immigration expert and renowned immigration solicitor, also confirmed an equivalent through his social media post, that a lot of UK universities have stopped accepting students from Punjab and Haryana and this is often thanks to fraudulent packages being sold by agents, forged documents to become eligible, and students not attending the schools after arriving within the UK.
“This may cause total ban on students from Punjab by many UK universities and it’ll harm the interests of genuine students within the future. IELTS with 6 to six .5 bands must be made compulsory by every university within the UK to prevent intake of non-genuine students,” suggested Dhawan.