The ����Vlog Office has warned another UK university about its student visa sponsorship processes.

The University of Hertfordshire has been placed on an “action plan” over improvements needed to its monitoring of immigration status and record keeping. The system is typically used for breaches of sponsorship duties that are not deemed serious.

It joins the University of Essex and Glasgow Caledonian University, which were added to the list over the summer, and the University of Lancashire, which was put on a six-month action plan approximately one year ago.

Following a routine audit in June, on 14 November UKVI flagged a number of areas for improvement at Hertfordshire, including monitoring immigration status and record keeping.

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A University of Hertfordshire spokesperson said: “We are confident that these will be resolved to the satisfaction of UKVI within the specified timescale and remain committed to providing high-quality education.”

The university remains fully licensed to sponsor students after meeting all of UKVI’s required compliance thresholds.

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Action plans are used to provide sponsors with an opportunity to strengthen internal processes and address areas of possible non-compliance. Typically, they are issued for a period of three or six months.

Jonathan Hill, a senior manager at immigration law firm Fragomen, said: “Where the compliance concerns relate to functional or systemic issues within an institution, the UKVI may extend this timeframe to allow sufficient opportunity for the sponsor to implement improvements and demonstrate sustainable compliance.

“In some cases, this may include allowing the sponsor to progress through an additional recruitment cycle to evidence meaningful change."

Lancashire, formerly the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), was first placed on an action plan around December 2024. It did not respond to requests for comment.

De Montfort University and Nottingham Trent University were put on action plans at a similar time but have since been taken off.

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Hill said there were several reasons behind the noticeable increase in the number of student sponsors placed on UKVI action plans in the past year, including the “increasingly stringent and forensic nature” of recent UKVI audits.

This has led to sponsors being cited for compliance issues, even where the underlying causes are more administrative than systemic, he added.

At least eight higher education student sponsors have been placed on action plans in the past 12 months. Further breaches of sponsor requirements could result in a university’s licence to enrol international students being revoked.

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Hill said another contributing factor is the UKVI’s heightened scrutiny of certain “high risk” markets and the perceived view by the UKVI of student credibility in these regions.

“This assessment by the UKVI on student credibility, which is often subjective in nature, is leading to an increase of visa refusals which negatively impacts an institution’s BCA outcome and can result in higher UKVI scrutiny of the student sponsor.”

Glasgow Caledonian said the action plans require enhanced processes, detailed evidence-gathering and demonstration of sustained compliance over time, and that it was confident it would successfully complete the action plan.

“We are progressing well and are where we expect to be at this stage, maintaining regular dialogue with UKVI,” added a spokesperson.

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Essex reiterated its statement from earlier in the year that it is taking measures to address the “isolated issues” raised ahead of a compliance visit next year.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com