Foreign students face tightened U.K. security checks

summary of the intended course of study. “This is something of a change as a student doesn’t know [their precise topic] until after they arrive,” says Robert Hay, academic secretary of the physics department at Cambridge. Hay adds that Cambridge is developing an online system to help students get their summaries quickly. Critics say the screenings are unfair. “This new screening system treats international students with undue suspicion,” claims Gemma Tumelty, president of Britain’s National Union of Students. “We might be denying opportunities for genuine students,” adds Ali Alhadithi, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in the U.K. & Ireland. Researchers contacted by Nature were aware of the scheme, but some said they would not object to it as long as it didn’t take undue time and interfere with the inflow of foreign students. “Clearly, there have been certain [security] worries with certain technologies,” says Neil Ferguson, a mathematical modeler of infectious disease at Imperial College London. “If they can approve students in a week or two, then fine.”

A similar American program which was tightened up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks caused significant delays. As is the case with ATAS, the U.S. program required students whose subjects appeared on a Technology Alert List to undergo further screening. The system, which required screening by many U.S. security services, quickly became overwhelmed by applicants, and in its first years, many scientists experienced delays of months. Any such problems could seriously affect both the research enterprise and the financial situation at U.K. universities. “International students are an important source of income,” says Bruce Nelson, chair of the Association of University Administrators, a higher-education group involved in the government consultation on the ATAS programme. Foreign students pay full fees of around £10,000 a year to study in Britain, Nelson says. The U.S. scheme is still in place, but delays have been largely ameliorated by increases in staff, automation of the system and the extension of clearances for up to four years. The U.K. government has assured the university community that students will not be hit by delays, according to Dominic Scott, chief executive of the U.K. Council for International Student Affairs, which promotes international student mobility. The screening will be free to applicants and require no additional documentation beyond a brief summary of their studies, Scott says. Most importantly, the FCO has promised to process applicants quickly, he explains. “We are assured that the vast majority will receive their answers within seven to ten days.”