A cross-party group of MPs, including Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, are to voice their “profound concerns” to the home secretary, Teresa May over her plans to bar tens of thousands of overseas students from coming to study in Britain.

The plans to be detailed today include restricting overseas student visas to those on degree-level courses and are expected to lead to the closure of some English-language schools and other privately-run colleges.

The package means that the home secretary will close the door on up to 120,000 international students from outside the EU who come to Britain to take “below-degree” level courses – about 40% of the annual total. Full report here

Hey guys,

Here is something that one of my students, who would prefer to remain nameless, but I think their work deserves to be read!! So here it is:

“Everybody has already dreamed about being famous, even if it happened in his/her childhood. Maybe it is because of the glamour, maybe because of the money – I don’t know. But one thing is certain: once you are famous, other aspects of it can make fame become more annoying than desirable.

We are used to seeing TV programmes that show beautiful people, who are always on the news too. Therefore, the media can make us think that it feels good to be known and admired by everybody. Besides, usually those who are in show business, who are best seller writers or a president (and this list could be endless) earn a lot of money. In this materialistic world, most people think you don’t need anything else to achieve happiness and comfort in life.

On the other hand, the issue is deeper than it seems to be; being famous may be much worse than we can see. It would be complete chaos every time you went to a public place: everybody would be trying to get closer to you and you would be constantly asked to take a picture with people you had never seen before. However, I believe the worst thing would be having every detail of your life in the news. Privacy is very important in our life, and without this you will never be able to be yourself: you will always be acting and worried about the public around you.

Although fame can bring us money and recognition, it brings fans and paparazzi. The lack of privacy that it involves is something that nobody would like to live with, including me. Everybody likes to do whatever they want with whoever they want, without being watched. Consequently, fame is not desirable in real life, only in our dreams.”

Have a good weekend!!

Stuart