The changing student experience of
Tier Four compliance
An overview of how the University of
Edinburgh's approach to Tier Four
requirements has been shaped by
the student experience from 2009
to the present day
Student Administration are responsible for providing services to all
students throughout their time at the University of Edinburgh and for
supporting Colleges and Schools and other student services in
delivering a high quality student experience.
Student Administration comprises the following departments
The old days . . . .
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‘Visa letters’ allowed easier entry
English language requirements not strict
No attendance monitoring duties
Numerous visa routes available upon
graduation
• No reporting duties
A change in perception?
Reduction of net migration
to the tens of thousands
The Points-Based Immigration System
• Total overhaul of immigration system
• Intended to mirror NZ and Australian systems
• Left responsibility for students entering the UK in
hands of ‘sponsors’
• Introduced ‘sponsorship duties’
• ‘Best and brightest’
2009 – the beginning . . .
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Dramatic change in perception of UK HE
Statutory requirements – reputation irrelevant
No agreement – no international students
Concept of ‘monitoring’ – Orwellian?
Hostile experience to study in?
Staff overloaded with info
What to do?
• Ever changing guidance
• No clarification available from UKBA
• Staff in admissions/student
support/exams etc all now expected
to be immigration experts
• Lengthy UKBA timescales (2years?)
• Ultimately – a struggle
Tier Four compliance at UoE
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Registration
Data collection
Attendance monitoring
Reporting
CAS issuance
Registration
THEN:
• Documents provided in
support of registration
as scans or photocopies
• All printed and dataentered manually
• Teams handling this task
not immigration
specialists
• Scale of task could lead
to delays
NOW:
• Documents provided
by upload
(laptop/phone)
• All checked by trained
specialists
• Average 48 hour
turnaround in verifying
• Data available through
EUCLID as soon as
uploaded
Document collection and maintenance
THEN:
• All sponsorship info held
on database in Student
Admin
• No access for nonStudent Admin staff
• Students had no
oversight of data held
• Hard for schools and
colleges to advise
students on options
NOW:
• *18 months development*
• New ‘Immigration
Overview’ allows schools,
colleges and support teams
access to sponsorship data
• All sponsorship fields
available in BI
• Students able to view and
update passport/visa
details and documents
through MyEd
Attendance monitoring
THEN:
• ‘Tier Four Census’ operating
outside UoE monitoring
approach
• Staff working in Census
unsure of purpose
• Customer service not a
priority
• Information not available to
school and college staff
• Student resentment
NOW:
• Staff working in Census fully
briefed and able to answer
queries
• Part of main SEAM policy
• Customer service prioritised
• Student absences permitted
with school authorisation
• All data available in EUCLID
• Exam attendance monitoring
from Dec 2014
• Improved compliance at audit
Reporting
THEN:
• Presumption students knew
when reporting would
happen
• Notification of reporting not
made to students
• Staff not aware of
circumstances leading to
report being made
• Advisory services not flagged
as available
• No oversight for
schools/college/support areas
NOW:
• Students sent detailed email
when report made
• Reporting information
available through EUCLID and
BOXI
• Automatic change of
‘sponsored?’ status of student
in EUCLID following report –
real-time data
• IO services flagged to all
reported students
• 2015 - training on reporting
CAS issuance
THEN:
• No one point of contact
• Staff specialist in other areas
having to keep immigration
knowledge current
• Main student record not
always correct at time of
issuance
• Large workload for school and
college staff at already busy
periods
• Presented risk in event of
audit
NOW:
• One point of contact for
continuing student CAS
issuance
• Webpages dedicated to CAS
issuance to be published
(EOY)
• 24 hour turnaround in 90% of
cases
• Student record issues
addressed at point of CAS
issuance
• Increased compliance at audit
The future . . .
• Centralised CAS issuance for new students
• A ‘living’ sponsorship record available to students
through MyEd
• Automated emails reminding students of their visa
and passport expiry dates
• Training sessions for staff on reporting
• ‘Terms and conditions’ of sponsorship to prevent
confusion regarding Tier Four conditions
• Passport and visa verification at start of session
Any questions?
Kate Monroe
Operations Manager, Immigration Compliance
Student Administration
Kate.monroe@ed.ac.uk
Ext: 51 4071