A TOP Tory shadow minister has been blasted for an “ill-informed” attack on a Scottish university.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp questioned the legitimacy the University of the West of Scotland’s (UWS) London campus and suggested it was being used by people trying to scam the immigration system.
In a video posted to social media, the former minister claimed that he did not believe that students enrolled at the London campuses of universities from “far-flung corners of the UK” were “actually studying”.
He said: “An astonishing number of universities from far-flung corners of the UK have, for some reason, established London campuses, very often with extremely large numbers of international students.
“So I’ve come here to Canary Wharf where many of those London campuses are located. In this building behind me, we have the University of the West of Scotland which apparently has 5000 students in that building, of whom 3800 are from overseas. York St John University also has a London campus in that building containing 4900 students, of whom 4800 are from overseas.
I’ve been calling this out for some time. Universities are handing out student visas to people with no intention of studying / they just want to get into the UK. I found London campuses supposedly containing thousands of students in buildings that could only hold a fraction… pic.twitter.com/apuqSbZ63S
— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) June 9, 2026
“Now it’s a decent-sized building but I don’t think there are 10,000 students studying in there, of whom, it turns out 8700 are from overseas.”
The Croydon South MP added: “Now I just don’t believe there are that many students actually studying in these buildings, so I’m going to go in and take a look.”
In a segment interviewing a student, who Phil conceded was “studying for real”, outside the UWS building Philp asked him whether he believed people from abroad were enrolling solely to gain entry to the UK.
The student said: “I don’t know.”
The UWS, which is based in Paisley, hit back at Philp saying its students in London were “genuine, engaged and successfully completing their studies”.
A spokesperson for the institution said: “It is important that public debate in this area is informed by evidence rather than ill-informed conjecture.
“UWS operates within a robust regulatory framework and is subject to regular oversight by UK Visas and Immigration.
“Its most recent Basic Compliance Assessment confirms a 99.23% enrolment rate and 95.83% course completion rate – clear evidence that students are genuine, engaged and successfully completing their studies.”
The clip had originally been posted in March and had been rebutted in the higher education press at the time.
Wonkhe, a higher education news site, pointed to evidence which showed that the UWS London campus was in “good standing” with UK immigration authorities and that its income from overseas enrolment had fallen last year.
David Kernohan, the site’s deputy editor, said Philp’s interview with the student “revealed absolutely nothing” and said that the shadow minister was “unable to lead the young person in question to agree with any of the assertions he was making about visa fraud”.
About 20 universities that have a main campus outside London operate branches in the English capital, Times Higher Education reported in March , partly as a means of attracting students who do not want to leave the city.
A spokesperson from Universities UK International said: “Several universities have expanded their offers beyond their main campuses to meet student demand.
“Wherever they are offered, degrees must meet stringent measures for quality – and all international students must meet the same very high standards to be granted a study visa, wherever they are based.”
A spokesperson from York St John University told Times Higher Education that the institution “wholly rejected” Philp's “inaccurate claims” that students were using the campus to access visas and said his post “demonstrates a lack of understanding of the UK higher education sector and the economic, social and cultural value that international students bring”.
The spokesperson added: “He also fails to recognise that no university teaches all its students at once; work placements and timetables are structured so that only a proportion of the student body will be in class at any point in time.
“Like all UK universities we are subject to strict [UK Visas and Immigration] regulations to ensure international student visa holders are fully enrolled and attend teaching sessions. Our 97% course completion rate shows that a higher than average number of our students go on to successfully graduate.”
