The following changes were announced on 13 July 2015 and will affect TIER 4 visa holders / applicants (mainly international students studying in the UK)
The main changes will:
The main changes will:
-
stop new students at publicly funded colleges from working, bringing them in line with those at private colleges (from August)
-
allow university students to study a new course at the same level
but only where there’s a link to their previous course or the
university confirms that this supports their career aspirations. There
will be credibility interviews and sanctions against universities who
abuse this rule (from August)
-
ban college students from extending their Tier 4 visas in the UK
unless they are studying at an ‘embedded college’, one which has a
formal, direct link to a university that is recognised by the Home
Office. This will require them to leave and apply for a new visa from
outside the UK if they wish to study another course (from November)
-
ban college students from being able to switch visas to Tiers 2
or 5 in the UK, and require them to apply from outside the UK (from
November)
-
reduce the time limit for study at further education level from 3
years to 2 years. This brings the maximum period into line with the
length of time British students generally spend in further education
(from November)
-
stop Tier 4 dependants from taking a low or unskilled job, but
allow them to take part-time or full-time skilled work (from the autumn)
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tier-4-visas-immigration-rules-changes
