Mandatory checks on whether students from outside the EU are arriving at colleges or attending courses will not be operating until the end of the year.

The Government is unable to introduce one of the key elements in tackling bogus students because a new IT system is not in place yet. Under the points-based system educational institutions taking students from outside the EU will be expected to tell the Home Office if students have any unauthorised absences, fail to enrol on their courses or stop their studies.

Kevin Brennan, the Further Education Minister, disclosed the delay to MPs yesterday when he dismissed concerns that some college staff might boycott the checks. Mr Brennan said: “The [checks] are not yet mandatory until a new IT system is in place which will enable the Home Office to check and link up with universities.”

The minister was giving evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry prompted by an investigation by The Times that revealed a network of sham colleges in London, Manchester and Bradford. The Times has made its evidence available to the committee and has co-operated with the Home Office.

Mr Brennan said: “The Times performed a useful public service by exposing some of the abuse outlined in the articles.”

He told MPs that he had asked officials to look at tightening registration of colleges and restricting the use of the word “college” in an effort to clamp down further on fake educational institutions. Mr Brennan said he was looking at introducing a registration system covering every educational institution in Britain.

Another proposal would make the term “college” a registered education establishment, as is the case with the terms “university” and “institute”.

Mr Brennan said that the move could be made in regulations under the 2006 Companies Act, though it would not be retrospective and would not tackle existing sham colleges. An offence under the Act makes it a crime to carry on a business with a seriously misleading name.

The Government introduced a stricter regime this year for students from outside the EU. They must prove that they have enough money in the bank to support themselves for the duration of their course, prove their previous educational credentials and be vouched for by a recognised educational establishment.

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