Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the process for determining which international students applying for a visa to study in the UK should undergo an interview to assess that their course of study is genuine before a visa is issued; and what is the breakdown of their countries of origin.

Interviews are conducted with some international students as part of the visa application process in order to confirm that the applicant meets the requirements of the UK immigration rules, in particular that he or she is a genuine student. A number of different factors are taken into account to assess the potential level of risk that an applicant might pose to the UK border and these are used to determine whether or not an interview is required.

It is not possible to release the break down of country of origin of students that are interviewed as this would be prejudicial to the operation of immigration controls.