Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced that in a bid to crackdown on system abuses, the number of visas UK granted to foreign students would be reduced.

According to the tougher rules, applicants would be required to speak English to a certain level, including being banned from bringing dependents if they were only there on short UK courses.

The new rules were not meant to discourage genuine students, only those who came to UK primarily for work, and follow a review ordered after the failed Chicago plane bombing.

Gordon Brown ordered the review as the Christmas Day bomber i.e. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab having studied in London, linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after he left the country.

According to a Home Office spokesman, the change would have a great impact on the numbers of student visas issued this year, reducing the figure of 2008 – 2009’s 240,000 student visas by tens of thousands.

The new measures will be introduced within weeks, coming just a week after suspending student visa applications from Nepal, northern India and Bangladesh due to a big rise in cases.

Only last year, the UK introduced the requirement of securing 40 points under its criteria for students wishing to enter the country.

Under the new measures:
· Non-EU applicants will be required to speak English to a level just below GCSE standard, rather than beginner level as at present.
· Students taking courses below degree level will only be allowed to work for 10 hours per week, rather than 20 hours as at present.
· Anyone on courses lasting under six months will not be permitted to bring dependants, while dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be permitted to work.
· Visas for courses below degree level will only be granted if the institutions are registered with the Highly Trusted Sponsors List.