Yesterday, Stephen asked the Home Secretary for an update on the position of overseas students who have sat TOEIC English Language tests.
Following a Panorama report in 2014 exposing some instances of cheating, the Government issued a blanket response to all those students who had sat the TOEIC tests - taking steps to suspend them from their degree courses and remove them from the country. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that he had held meetings about this matter last week and would be in touch with Stephen shortly.
Speaking after the exchange, Stephen said: “The Government's approach towards these students has been extremely severe. All have been deemed guilty of cheating based on scant evidence and those who protest their innocence have never been allowed the opportunity to resit the test.
“The Secretary of State has assured me on several occasions that he is taking this matter seriously and from his answer today it looks as if new decisions may have been made. I very much hope to hear from the Home Secretary without delay; and I hope too that measures have been taken to end the years of hardship endured by those students falsely accused of cheating on their English Language tests.”