The UK Border Agency yesterday decided to allow London Met's international students - who have the proper immigration status - to stay in the UK to complete their course, or to  continue to study in here until the end of the 2012/13 academic year, whichever is sooner. 

UKBA had previously announced that it would serve notices to all international students at London Met on Monday 1 October 2012, giving them notice of 60 days leave to remain in the UK.

The annoucement follows this morning's High Court decision to grant London Met permission to apply for a full judicial review against the UKBA's original decision to revoke its status as a Highly Trusted Sponsor of international students. The court has also today decided to to allow the National Union of Students to intervene as a third party. 

Liam Burns, NUS President said: “We are delighted that as a result of our third party intervention, interim relief has been granted by the High Court to current international students who have been unfairly affected by UKBA’s decision.”

However, he emphasised that the future for London Met's international students after July 2013 is uncertain. “This whole ugly episode has also thrown up wider questions about the treatment of international students in this country", he said, emphasising that "unless these questions are urgently addressed, the UK’s global reputation for higher education remains tarnished.”