Fraud in student visa system exposed

of candidates having the tests faked for them.

The English Testing Service - which sets the exams - is one of the largest language testing firms in the world.

Home Secretary Theresa May said the BBC's evidence was "very shocking".

For the last year, Panorama has been filming undercover, following a network of agents helping people obtain student visa extensions through fraud.

Each year, around 100,000 non-EU students get their visas to stay in the UK extended.

The programme sent non-EU students - who were already in the UK legally - undercover. We disguised their voices.

They posed as bogus students with poor English, who wanted to remain in the UK to work illegally.

One went undercover at an immigration consultancy called Student way Education in Southall, west London.

Fake sitters
The BBC was told Studentway could get around compulsory English tests, even if applicants spoke no English.

Director Varinder Bajarh said: "Someone else will sit the exam for you. But you will have to have your photo taken there to prove you were present."

The researcher was told a "guaranteed pass" would cost £500 - about three times the proper fee for the exam.

After paying, she was sent to sit the exam at Eden College International in East London, a government-approved exam centre.

She was set up on a computer to sit the visa application test, called TOEIC, but never actually took the exam.

Instead, each of the 14 candidates had a "fake sitter" who took the spoken and written tests for them.

All the real candidates had to do was wait to have their photograph taken - as proof they were there.

Answers read out
A week later, the undercover applicant returned to the college to sit another, multiple choice, exam.

This time she had to take it herself, but the invigilator simply read out all the correct answers.

It took the two dozen or so candidates just seven minutes to complete the two hour long exam.

A few days later, the researcher returned to Studentway and was given a TOEIC certificate, showing she had passed.

She had scored highly in all three tests - getting 100% in her spoken English.

The answers to multiple choice exams were read out to candidates
Eden College International strongly denies any prior knowledge of, or complicity in, the frauds.

But it said that early last year it investigated allegations against three freelance TOEIC exam invigilators and did not renew their contracts. It said it took swift action to improve invigilation and monitoring.

The TOEIC exam is set and marked by ETS, one of the biggest English language testing companies in the world.

While it does not appoint the invigilators, before its suspension ETS told Panorama it "does everything it can to detect and prevent rare instances of dishonest test administrators or test takers."

A notice on its website in the UK said that the Home Office has requested ETS to suspend various tests temporarily in the UK related to immigration purposes.

It also said candidates who had appointments to take a test for immigration purposes would be contacted to process a refund.

Bank statements
Undercover researchers were also sold fake bank details to show they had enough funds to stay in the UK.

Immigration rules also mean that non-EU students are not allowed to take paid work in the UK.

That is why applicants also need a bank statement to show they have sufficient funds to study and live in the UK.

One of the agents at Studentway, Vinod Kumar, told a Panorama researcher the agency had a solution.

He said it would use its contacts in India to find "someone else with the same name, whose account and money will be used for you. So when there is need for verification it's verified for you till you get your visa".

Mr Kumar was proposing to steal the bank details of someone with the same name as the researcher and pass it off as hers.

Two weeks later she received a bank statement from Student way that made it appear she had tens of thousands of pounds.

Student way director Varinder Bajarh denied that the company was involved in any fraud. He also said that Mr Kumar had never worked at the agency, but may have used the office without his knowledge.

However, Mr Bajarh is clearly present with Mr Kumar in some of the BBC's footage inside Student way's premises.

Panorama showed footage of the fake exams to Home Secretary Theresa May.

"What Panorama has uncovered is extremely important, it's very shocking and I want to do something about it," she said.

"What you've shown here is people being able to effectively go into a situation where that is being faked for them and that's a matter of grave concern,"

"We now have to look at the sort of documents people are providing and look at the kind of scams being undertaken behind that."

The Home Secretary said the government had suspended the two colleges identified by Panorama and all further English language tests done through ETS in the UK had also been suspended.

BBC © 2014

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