What is Chris Philp saying about international students on London campuses?

In one of those moments that make you doubt your sanity, Chris Phips (the Conservative MP for Croydon South) has recently learned that some universities not traditionally based in London have campuses inside the M25. And he’s not happy.

He’s shared a video of himself on the platform formerly known as twitter, outlining his belief that these campuses exist purely to facilitate immigration into the UK, and threatening (but never quite delivering) a Temu Louis Theroux style investigation. His interview with a clearly unimpressed student reveals absolutely nothing, and he was unable to lead the young person in question to agree with any of the assertions he was making about visa fraud. The fact that he didn’t notice this before publishing the video speaks volumes.

Philp cites some high enrollment numbers without offering sources: for instance the University of the West of Scotland campus just off East India Dock Road (the seventh floor of an office block) is alleged to have 5,000 students (of which 3,100 are from overseas), something that suggests that the London campus is thriving.

According to HESA, UWS had 19,105 students in total enrolled in 2024-25 – of which 5,780 were from overseas and 1,155 were from non-Scotland parts of the UK. And UWS are fairly open that a part of the reason to have a London campus is to enroll students who don’t necessarily want to study in Paisley: the 2025 Annual Report tells us that recent improvements in the recruitment of students from the non-Scotland UK is primarily driven by the London campus (which is managed by The Education Group).

However, like many providers, the last year was not a promising one for international fee income at UWS, this was down 12.6 per cent on the previous year – and current international efforts are largely focused on trans-national education. I am told by UWS that current student numbers at the London campus include 3,653 international students and 1,277 domestic students.

If it is to recruit any international students at all, a provider currently has to perform well against three international student metrics (a visa refusal rate which must be less than ten per cent, an enrollment rate which must be at least 90 per cent, and a course completion rate of at least 85 per cent – these will become more stringent from this year). UWS is in good standing with UKVI and is not one of the five UK universities with current action plans, it meets the targets (99.23 per cent enrollment, 95.93 course completion for international students). The Home Office, who is generally pretty keen to identify these kinds of issues and act accordingly, has found no reason to have concerns about visa fraud at UWS.

There is clear evidence, in other words, that UWS London students are genuine, engaged and successfully completing their studies. Indeed, the provider meets a new metric that comes into force on 7 April: international students have to be taught in person for at least 80 per cent of their timetabled contact hours.

Universities UK notes:

Several universities have expanded their offers beyond their main campuses to meet student demand. Wherever they are offered, degrees must meet stringent measures for quality – and all international students must meet the same very high standards to be granted a study visa, wherever they are based.

Here, so Chris Philp can get best value from his Oyster Card and perhaps expand his survey response rate above one, is a map of providers based outside of London who have campuses in London. You can mouse over each dot to see what undergraduate courses are currently on offer at each, thanks to the wonder of the Unistats dataset.

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You’ll note that according to unistats public data UWS London currently offers a single undergraduate course: a BSc (Hons) in Collaborative Health and Social Care. The website cites an additional four, covering business and data science, alongside a multi-route MBA offer and masters courses in IT and finance.

If you have a London campus, why not invite Chris Philp to come and see the work students are doing and the support you offer them?  He might learn something.