IMMIGRATION MATTERS
Bankrupt NVQ College leaves thousands of Filipino students stranded
By Charles Kelly
10 July 2009
NVQ college, Precision Training UK Ltd, has gone bust leaving Filipino students "high and dry" after paying hundreds of pounds in upfront fees weeks before the owners pulled the plus on its Wembley office.
Since Precision Training collapsed students have been sent letters by a company called 'Aspire Training', which claims they have taken over from Precision due to 'Precision Training going into liquidation'.
Despite this, the company is offering no refunds and will not take any fees paid into account when "advising" students to sign up with them to continue their training.
According to reports, as many as 4,500 students from the UK, Philippines, Ghana, Bulgaria and other countries may have been scammed by Precision's owners Nichola and Salim Shivji.
Despite the fact that NVQ awarding body EDEXCEL had imposed sanctions against Precision as far back as May 2008, preventing them from taking on new students, some months ago, the company continued to recruit new candidates.
The all too familiar story has echoes of last year's scandal involving Birmingham based bankrupt college, Affinity Training and its Philippine cohort Kirsten...Full story
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7 Steps for overseas students when your college fails
What should you do if you are a victim of precision training or another bankrupt college?
As a student on a student visa, you must be in 'full time study in order to comply with your visa conditions. If your college is not providing you with full time courses, or has gone out of business, you should register with another training provider, which is on the Government-approved Tier 4 Sponsors Register. Cynthia Barker, Immigration adviser and Centre Manager for Majestic College gives you 7 Steps.
Cynthia also said that her team would be as "flexible as possible" on initial fees with students who have lost money with Precision or other failed NVQ colleges.
You can find out more about Majestic College at http://www.majesticcollege.org/ email them at info@majesticcollege.org.
Drop in visitors welcome - no appointment needed!
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I am often asked by Immigration Matters readers - overseas students or job hunters - if a company offering them a course or work placement is legitimate. The internet has given birth to millions scams including those offering people bogus jobs, usually requiring applicants to send money in advance for Work Permit applications or flights.
