48% Pak students in UK not 'genuine': BHO report

Islamabad, July 28 (ANI): The British Home Office (BHO) has claimed that over 48 percent of the Pakistani students who came to the United Kingdom to study in 2011, were not 'genuine'.

According to a BHO's credibility pilot analysis of qualitative and quantitative data 2012, it found that nearly half of all applicants from Pakistan should have been refused entry into the UK.

According to the Daily Times, the BHO found the results after it conducted thousands of interviews with applicants from around the world, where they were tested on their ability to speak and write English, and were quizzed on whether they actually intended to study and not work.

The BHO survey data showed that three in five applicants, or 61 percent, interviewed under the pilot analysis could potentially have been refused in privately funded FE/HE colleges on credibility grounds, compared with around one in seven, or 14 percent of applicants to universities, and over 30 percent in certain posts.

During the analysis, rates of potential refusals on credibility grounds were found high for diplomas with 56 percent, business/administration courses with 48 percent and banking/finance related courses with 42 percent, the paper said.

The survey also revealed that the rate of potential refusals on credibility grounds was more than three times higher amongst applicants to privately funded Further Education and Higher Education colleges, 58 percent, than applicants to universities, 16 percent.

The results showed that the largest number of additional potential refusals were 310 out of 800, and arose from applications for business administration and management courses. (ANI)