uk

One-year Master's students in Britain are all too familiar with the situation described so brilliantly by my good friend and fellow Master's student:

INSTALLING SUMMER.....

███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.

Install delayed....please wait.

Installation failed. Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season "Summer" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is unavailable in England.

Perhaps my friend was referring to the lack of sun and warmth that characterizes this time of the year in England yet is unthinkable for the season in his native Brazil. But perhaps he was referring to the lack of summer that comes from having to write a thesis during vacation. You have all heard that British people are obsessed with time, and one-year Master's programs in England are no exception. Forget about that September-May nonsense; here they last exactly one year. While we attend classes for the first nine months, the last three months after final examinations are destined to the dissertation writing process.

A number of British MPs have criticised the student visa changes that are to be introduced by the government next year, arguing that they will harm the economy.

The government first announced the cuts earlier this year, in a bid to reduce immigration into the UK by up to 230,000 over five years. However, official figures released in June predict that the new restrictions could cost the economy £3.6 billion.

Figures Dismissed

Despite being calculated by her own department, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has dismissed this figure and instead asked the migration advisory committee for a "better assessment and a better judgment of the true picture".

However, the Home Affairs Committee is outraged by May's refusal to believe the facts, with the chairman Keith Vaz revealing:

"The Home Secretary's dismissal of the impact assessment is very disappointing. The government appears to be not only making policy without adequate immigration statistics, but also ignoring its own evidence. We reiterate the need for an immigration policy which is both evidence-based and does not adversely affect the British economy."

The oldest of the four major championships in golf, the British Open, teed off yesterday at the Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent. The current leaderboard is an odd mix of experience and youth, with English amateur Tom Lewis sharing top spot with the 40-year-old Dane Thomas Bjorn.

In sharing the lead overnight, the previously unknown Tom Lewis has set all sorts or records. It is the first time an amateur has led the championship in 43 years and his first round of 65 (five under par) is a record score by an amateur at the Open. Understandably, Lewis is ecstatic with his progress, revealing:

"I was just thrilled to be here, but to shoot 65 the first round was something I wouldn't have thought. I was just happy to get the drive off the tee at the first."

However, any thoughts of winning the tournament are a long way away, as there is still another three rounds of 18 holes to play before a winner is announced. What's more, if there are two or more players tied after all that, there is then a four-hole playoff to decide who pockets the £900,000 winner's pot.

A few months ago I participated in an International Students House Travel Club day trip to Cambridge. After a short minivan ride from London, our group of 13 international students arrived to a quaint little city dominated by gothic and red-brick university buildings. There were many churches, cozy coffeeshops, parked bikes everywhere and quiet courtyards full of the greenest grass and autumn flowers. For students, this was heaven.

Our first stop was the main street in front of King's College (pictured above). Our guide gave us about an hour to explore our surroundings before the official tour started.

The government has announced that planned cuts in UK student visas will be far less stringent than first proposed.

The British Home Secretary, Theresa May, revealed that the number of international students allowed in to the UK over the next 5 years will be cut by 260,000. Whilst this may sound like a lot, it is far fewer than the 400,000 that had been suggested by the government in March this year.

Bogus Students

The new figure accounts for about 15% of international student visas, but it is important to remember that the vast majority of the students denied a visa will be ‘bogus'. The government is specifically aiming the cuts at fake students who attend private colleges simply to gain a visa to the UK, without ever actually planning to study here. If you want to study a legitimate course at a government recognised university or college, then obtaining a visa should not be any more of a problem than it currently is.

However, the chairman of MigrationWatch UK, Sir Andrew Green, has condemned the changes despite their new increased leniency, claiming that the government is approaching the problem from the wrong angle. He suggested that instead of simply creating a headline figure to cut immigration by, there should instead be a stricter interview process before students are granted visas: