UK launches register of bona fide providers

[George Brown]

Finally it has happened:

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister/

Cheers,

George

[J]

Given the neo-socialism and general authoritarianism of the present UK government, such a thing isn't surprising. However, Prime Minister Blair has indicated in the past his support for the idea of private, non-state universities, so I guess there isn't full consistency here.

At the same time, this is a useful list. The accent is towards bricks and mortar providers that will seek students from overseas who will be granted immigration visas to enter the country. Looking in detail at the application procedure, it would appear not to be geared at all to institutions that operate purely by DL.

Inclusion on the list is voluntary. As a result, the conclusion that an institution included on the list is legitimate is a reasonable one, but that is as far as it goes. Whether an institution not recruiting students from outside the UK would see merit in being on it is debatable, since it is made clear that inclusion on the list is not in any way to be misrepresented as a badge of quality assurance.

[Greystead]

It is worth pointing out that this is simply a list of every educational provider in the UK that receives some form of funding from local, regional or national government, or QUANGOs. This ranges from primary schools (age from about 4 - 11 years) through to universities on the one hand and more vocational education providers on the other, including unions and local government training schemes.

As such it is of limited value to people looking at DL, although if you are applying for a DL programme from a UK institution they should appear on this list. The rationale for this intitiative has nothing to do with education as such, but is a response to criticism of the current UK immigration policy. This is a very sensitive issue in the UK at the moment and will be a large factor in the forthcoming national elections. A number of bogus schools were set up by human traffickers to get people into the country as "language students" etc. Once here on student visas, they quickly disappear into the "alternative" economy.