An independent report published on Tuesday is highly critical of the way Britain carried out a points-based student-visa system when it started in 2009, saying the system was hampered with “predictable flaws” that the government “could have avoided if it had introduced key controls at the same time.” The report from the National Audit Office examines the new system, known as Tier 4, which replaced a system in which there was no limit to the number of foreign students that higher-education institutions could enroll, and students could change courses and institutions without informing immigration authorities. Under Tier 4, students must be sponsored by educational institutions licensed by the national border agency and cannot change institutions without applying for permission from the agency. The report says that the “agency has not dealt efficiently and effectively with overstayers and students in breach of the rules.”

The British government is debating new efforts to curb immigration, with universities raising concerns about the effects on foreign students and scholars. Regarding the new report, the chief executive of Universities UK, which represents university vice chancellors, said in a statement that “visa abuse in relation to U.K. universities is very low compared to other parts of the education sector,” adding that with strong global competition for international students, Britain needs to “ensure that legitimate concerns about immigration do not end up causing irreversible damage to a profoundly successful British export.”