BMA lobbies government over decision to impose minimum savings level on existing overseas students (27 July 2015)

The British Medical Association (BMA) is lobbying the government over the “gravely concerning” changes which will mean a five-fold increase in the amount of money students must have in their bank accounts to be able to obtain a student visa to study in the UK.

BMA leaders say that the new policy and could mean some overseas students studying medicine in the UK could be forced to abandon their studies.

The change will come into force on 12 November – and from that date overseas students, including international medical students, will have to show evidence that they have access to £11,385 in funding if studying in inner London, or £7,380 if they are studying outside inner London.

The changes have been introduced to target students signing up for bogus courses, or registering for courses in the UK and then disappearing. Some universities are owed millions of pounds from student from both the EU and outside the EU, who took out student loans to help pay their fees and never repaid the loans, but simply returned home or disappeared.

BMA council chair Dr Mark Porter has written to the minister for immigration and security James Brokenshire about the government decision to impose on overseas students a minimum requirement in savings for funding for a course in the UK – a policy decision made without consultation or advance warning.

Dr Porter – who is currently elected BMA chair and a specialist in obstetric anaesthesia at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust – said in his letter to Mr Brokenshire:

“The BMA opposes the implementation of immigration rules that retrospectively have an impact on individuals who have already committed themselves to a course of study in the UK, with no prior consultation or evidence of the need for such change.

“I am gravely concerned about the pressure this will place on medical students, at a time when they are under immense strain in completing final exams and looking to secure a place on the foundation programme after up to six years of hard work.

“The new policy means all overseas students will have to prove they have sufficient funds for the duration of their study, or for up to nine months.”

Previously, students qualifying for “established presence” were only required to prove they had funding for up to two months, the equivalent of £2,040 for students studying in inner London and £1,640 elsewhere in the UK.

Overseas medical students will now have to show evidence that they have nine months of financial support – or enough funding for the entire duration of their studies.

Out of all students at UK medical schools, overseas students each year comprise 7.5% of the total number of medical students.

International students can be required to spend up to eight years on a Tier 4 visa as a result of medical courses lasting between five to six years, with an additional two years on the foundation programme.

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