Tribunal rules in favour of students in wake of 2014 BBC Panorama expose of ETS English language tests
The Upper Tribunal ruled yesterday that the Home Office had relied on "hearsay" evidence in the case of two students who were accused of fraud after taking an English language test administered by ETS, the Financial Times reported.
In 2014, the Home Office suspended English language tests run by ETS after BBC Panorama said it had uncovered systematic fraud in the student visa system.
Politics.co.uk says this was used to justify thousands of deportations as the Home Office claimed that everyone who had taken the TOEIC test conducted by ETS had committed fraud. The Financial Times reported that it is not clear how many people were deported, but more than 30,000 test scores were considered suspect.
According to the Financial Times, the Upper Tribunal ruled yesterday that the Home Office had failed to establish that the two test case students were guilty of deliberate deception.
The ruling was quoted as saying: "Apart from the limited hearsay evidence there was no evidence from the protagonist in this saga, the ETS organisation … The Secretary of State has not discharged the legal burden of establishing that either appellant procured his [English language] certificate by dishonesty."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said his Committee would inquire further and he called the judgment "a devastating verdict" on Home Office ministers' judgment.
A Home Office spokesperson told the Financial Times: "We are very disappointed by the decision and are awaiting a copy of the full determination to consider next steps including an appeal. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
The Independent reported that the "damning verdict" could open the doors to thousands of deported students returning to the UK and claiming compensation.
AWS Solicitors, who represented one of the two students in the case, released a press release following the ruling which you can read here on Free Movement. A summary of the judgment is also available here.