Three bogus colleges uncovered in an investigation by The Herald have been removed from an official government register.
Three bogus colleges uncovered in an investigation by The Herald have been removed from an official government register.
The move means Glasgow College, Middlesex College and the LSMT Business School - which all operated from Glasgow - will no longer be able to bring overseas students into Scotland.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Dius) took action after The Herald discovered discrepancies in courses being offered and false claims about affiliations with professional bodies.
It is understood the decision to strike the institutions from the register was made after visits to college premises by field intelligence offers from the UK Borders Agency.
The existence of these unlicensed colleges - and hundreds more across the UK - fuelled fears that fake institutions were being used as a front for bringing illegal immigrants into the country under student visas in exchange for thousands of pounds. Those already in the country can stay for longer simply by "applying" to do another course.
Although four colleges have been removed from the Dius register, some institutions which featured in our investigation are still operating in Scotland, while other privately-run organisations continue to use the term "college", despite being little more than recruitment agencies for overseas students.
Last night, the Association of Scotland's Colleges (Asc), which has campaigned for the term "college" to be given the same legal protection and status as "university" welcomed the government action.
Howard McKenzie, acting chief executive of the Asc, said: "We are delighted a number of so-called bogus colleges operating in Scotland are being removed from the Dius register. We recognise the Westminster Government takes this matter very seriously and is putting additional resources into the fight against bogus colleges."
However, the Asc went on to warn about the continuing activities of other institutions calling themselves colleges.
It has raised concerns about the so-called International College Britain, which is operating from an office in Edinburgh, but which is effectively a recruiting agent for overseas students from China. Although the ICB has a long track record in recruiting fee-paying students to Scottish institutions dating back to the 1990s it is not a college in its own right.
It lists a number of "partner institutions" on its website including the universities of Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Napier, Queen Margaret as well as Dundee College, and the Edinburgh colleges of Stevenson, Telford and Jewel & Esk Valley College. When contacted by The Herald, none of the institutions said they were in partnership with ICB.
Mr McKenzie said: "To claim to be in partnership with a range of colleges and universities was not just misleading potential students, but also potentially damaging to the reputations of those institutions.
"ICB is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are a number of dubious companies out there, using the title of college in order to exploit international students keen to study in the UK.
"We will be making Scottish MPs aware of these developments and asking them for assistance to help protect the reputation of Scotland's colleges."
But Professor Yifa Cai, who runs ICB, insisted the errors on the website were an innocent mistake brought about by poor translation from Chinese to English.
"I apologise for any misunderstanding and will remove these references from the website. There was never any intention to mislead anyone," he said.
"ICB is a legitimate organisation and we have a long and prestigious track record in bringing high-quality students to many colleges and universities in Scotland, some of whom are still studying here."
He said they used the term "college" as it ran colleges in China and had operated offices at college sites in Britain.
A spokeswoman for the Dius said: "We take very seriously allegations received about possible bogus colleges on the register. In every case the Home Office is asked to investigate. If the investigation upholds the allegations, the college is removed from the register."
The LSMT Business School operated from run-down premises in Dixon Street. Its prospectus claimed Dundee University was one of a number of legitimate universities which acted as an accrediting body for its courses, but, at the time, a spokesman for Dundee said it had no connection with them.
Glasgow College, whose prospectus stated Glasgow was "in the heart of the Highlands", was run by Leeds-based Abdul Qayum Mughal and Abdul Qadeer Mughal.
After Middlesex College was featured by The Herald, Yemi Adegoke, the academic dean, contacted us to raise concerns that it was unfair to "lump" Middlesex in with other "cowboy" colleges.
Shortly afterwards, the Scottish Qualifications Authority wrote to Middlesex College asking it to remove references to HND and HNC qualifications in business and information technology from its website.
