Almost 1,000 students from mainland Europe falsely claimed more than £5million in taxpayer-funded loans and grants amid lax controls on private colleges, spending watchdogs revealed today. The students – mainly from Romania and Bulgaria – were handed nearly £5,500 each on average to study in Britain after officials failed to make proper residence checks. The revelation prompted accusations that the Government had presided over an ‘incredible’ misuse of public funds after failing to control a huge expansion in private providers of higher education. Almost 1,000 students from mainland Europe falsely claimed more than £5million in taxpayer-funded loans and grants amid lax controls on private colleges, spending watchdogs revealed today . Ministers allowed private colleges greater access to public money in the form of loans for tuition fees and living costs but failed to prevent taxpayers’ money being used for ‘private gain’, it is claimed. Some colleges were found to be recruiting students with ‘limited’ English and barely any checks of capability or motivation. There are suspicions that, once tuition fees had been paid to the college and student loans or grants paid to the student, large numbers simply dropped out of their courses. Drop-out rates at some private colleges were found to be running at 20 per cent. Some colleges have been dubbed the ‘cashpoint’ by students because they gave them easy access to student finance. Critical: Labour MP Margaret Hodge has called the £5.4 million agreed in loans to ineligible students ‘incredible’ One - the London School of Science and Technology, which is located above a tile depot in Wembley, north London and was highlighted by whistle-blowers earlier this year – was found to have 273 ‘potentially ineligible applicants’ for financial support, 36 of whom had already been paid before stricter checks were introduced. Details of the wrongful payments to overseas students emerged today in a report by the National Audit Office. Suspicions the system was being abused were first raised by a surge in applications for financial help with living costs from European Union nationals, many from Romanians. It also emerged that more than 80 per cent of new students at some providers were of Romanian or Bulgarian origin. Further concerns were sparked by bulk applications from the same internet location – in some cases 50 per day. Until September last year, the Student Loans Company (SLC) relied mainly on the word of students that they had lived in the UK for three years needed – the residence criteria for help with living costs. An emergency review of more than 11,000 applications found that half – 5,548 – were potentially false. These applicants could or would not provide proof - such as bank statements, payslips or utility bills – of three years’ residence. Of these, 992 of those had already been handed the money they applied for. As of the middle of November, only £350,000 of the £5.4 million had been recovered by SLC, the NAO said. Of the potentially ineligible claims, 84 per cent came from students registered for courses at just 16 alternative providers. In its report, the NAO also drew attention to high drop-out rates at nine alternative providers. At these colleges, one in five students dropped out part-way through the year – five times the average for higher education. But BIS had not set any threshold for what was an acceptable rate where students are receiving support from public funds, it noted. In further findings, the said that up to 20 per cent of students at alternative providers may not even have been registered for a qualification with an awarding body. Following Coalition reforms, students at alternative providers – which are mainly for-profit private colleges – are allowed to claim maintenance loans and grants worth up to £11,000-a-year. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University College Union, believes it has taken far too long for the issue to be addressed . Colleges themselves can be handed £6,000 in tuition fees for each student they enrol. The shake-up was aimed at driving up standards and challenging existing universities by increasing competition. Between 2010/11 and 2013/14, the number of students from EU member states claiming public money to study at alternative providers ballooned from 7,000 to 53,000, with the associated bill rising from £50million to £675million. Officials from BIS, SLC and the Higher Education Funding Council for England face a grilling by MPs over the problems later this month. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, said the expansion had been allowed without proper safeguards against abuse, branding the £5.4 million agreed in loans to ineligible students ‘incredible’. ‘The Department went ahead with its reforms to expand the role of private colleges without ensuring there were controls in place to ensure that taxpayers’ money was used for its intended purpose of supporting higher education and not for private gain,’ she said. ‘This extraordinary rate of expansion, high drop-out rates, and warnings from within the sector ought to have set alarm bells ringing. ‘As Government hands more and more taxpayers’ money to private companies and institutions to deliver services for the public good, we have to be able to follow the taxpayers’ pound wherever it is spent.’ Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University College Union, said: ‘While we are pleased the misuse of public funds is finally being brought to light, we remain angry that it took so long to happen. We raised the issues of for-profit colleges’ access to taxpayers’ money time and again with ministers, but we were ignored at every turn.’
Government accused of ‘incredible’ misuse of public funds .
Some colleges were found to be recruiting students with ‘limited’ English .
Many dropped out as soon as tuition fees and grants had been paid .
80% of new students at some providers were Romanian or Bulgarian .
Almost 1,000 students from mainland Europe falsely claimed more than £5million in taxpayer-funded loans and grants amid lax controls on private colleges, spending watchdogs revealed today. The students – mainly from Romania and Bulgaria – were handed nearly £5,500 each on average to study in Britain after officials failed to make proper residence checks. The revelation prompted accusations that the Government had presided over an ‘incredible’ misuse of public funds after failing to control a huge expansion in private providers of higher education. Almost 1,000 students from mainland Europe falsely claimed more than £5million in taxpayer-funded loans and grants amid lax controls on private colleges, spending watchdogs revealed today . Ministers allowed private colleges greater access to public money in the form of loans for tuition fees and living costs but failed to prevent taxpayers’ money being used for ‘private gain’, it is claimed. Some colleges were found to be recruiting students with ‘limited’ English and barely any checks of capability or motivation. There are suspicions that, once tuition fees had been paid to the college and student loans or grants paid to the student, large numbers simply dropped out of their courses. Drop-out rates at some private colleges were found to be running at 20 per cent. Some colleges have been dubbed the ‘cashpoint’ by students because they gave them easy access to student finance. Critical: Labour MP Margaret Hodge has called the £5.4 million agreed in loans to ineligible students ‘incredible’ One - the London School of Science and Technology, which is located above a tile depot in Wembley, north London and was highlighted by whistle-blowers earlier this year – was found to have 273 ‘potentially ineligible applicants’ for financial support, 36 of whom had already been paid before stricter checks were introduced. Details of the wrongful payments to overseas students emerged today in a report by the National Audit Office. Suspicions the system was being abused were first raised by a surge in applications for financial help with living costs from European Union nationals, many from Romanians. It also emerged that more than 80 per cent of new students at some providers were of Romanian or Bulgarian origin. Further concerns were sparked by bulk applications from the same internet location – in some cases 50 per day. Until September last year, the Student Loans Company (SLC) relied mainly on the word of students that they had lived in the UK for three years needed – the residence criteria for help with living costs. An emergency review of more than 11,000 applications found that half – 5,548 – were potentially false. These applicants could or would not provide proof - such as bank statements, payslips or utility bills – of three years’ residence. Of these, 992 of those had already been handed the money they applied for. As of the middle of November, only £350,000 of the £5.4 million had been recovered by SLC, the NAO said. Of the potentially ineligible claims, 84 per cent came from students registered for courses at just 16 alternative providers. In its report, the NAO also drew attention to high drop-out rates at nine alternative providers. At these colleges, one in five students dropped out part-way through the year – five times the average for higher education. But BIS had not set any threshold for what was an acceptable rate where students are receiving support from public funds, it noted. In further findings, the said that up to 20 per cent of students at alternative providers may not even have been registered for a qualification with an awarding body. Following Coalition reforms, students at alternative providers – which are mainly for-profit private colleges – are allowed to claim maintenance loans and grants worth up to £11,000-a-year. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University College Union, believes it has taken far too long for the issue to be addressed . Colleges themselves can be handed £6,000 in tuition fees for each student they enrol. The shake-up was aimed at driving up standards and challenging existing universities by increasing competition. Between 2010/11 and 2013/14, the number of students from EU member states claiming public money to study at alternative providers ballooned from 7,000 to 53,000, with the associated bill rising from £50million to £675million. Officials from BIS, SLC and the Higher Education Funding Council for England face a grilling by MPs over the problems later this month. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, said the expansion had been allowed without proper safeguards against abuse, branding the £5.4 million agreed in loans to ineligible students ‘incredible’. ‘The Department went ahead with its reforms to expand the role of private colleges without ensuring there were controls in place to ensure that taxpayers’ money was used for its intended purpose of supporting higher education and not for private gain,’ she said. ‘This extraordinary rate of expansion, high drop-out rates, and warnings from within the sector ought to have set alarm bells ringing. ‘As Government hands more and more taxpayers’ money to private companies and institutions to deliver services for the public good, we have to be able to follow the taxpayers’ pound wherever it is spent.’ Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University College Union, said: ‘While we are pleased the misuse of public funds is finally being brought to light, we remain angry that it took so long to happen. We raised the issues of for-profit colleges’ access to taxpayers’ money time and again with ministers, but we were ignored at every turn.’
an ‘incredible’ misuse of public funds after claimed. Some colleges were found to be recruiting students with ‘limited’ English and cent of new students at some providers were of Romanian or Bulgarian origin. Further concerns