Affinity Training put into Administration

Hundreds of overseas students
lose thousands in fees as
NVQ training provider goes bust

5 August 2008

NVQ awarding body OCR has confirmed that Affinity Training Ltd had ceased trading and had been put into “administration”, a technical term which basically means the company can no longer pay its creditors and is now under the control of an insolvency practitioner.

A spokesperson for the Administrators, Leonard Curtis said:

“Affinity Training has ceased trading and the assets have been transferred to a third party.

“Students (creditors) have little or no chance of recovering any fees paid to Affinity.”

In other words, students who have paid advance fees to Affinity will not get their money back.

You can contact the Administrator Leonard Curtis on 0121 200 2111.

What are your options if you are an overseas student currently enrolled on an NVQ course with Affinity Training?

1. If you are in the UK on a student visa you must enrol in another college or you will be in breach of your visa conditions. You will also need to inform the Home Office in writing of the change of educational establishment. Most colleges will assist you with this letter. To comply with your visa conditions the college must be on the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills or DIUS (Formerly DfES) Register. You can search the register at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/providersregister/search.cfm.

2. If you are overseas and still waiting for your visa you should go back to the company which arranged your visa and seek a refund. Affinity recruited hundreds of NVQ students in the Philippines through its partner firm Kirsten, who until recently were still signing up candidates.

3. If you are overseas and have obtained a visa to study at Affinity, you should contact your adviser immediately or register with another college. Should you get stopped by Immigration Officers trying to enter the UK to study at a college which no longer exists you could be sent home.

Students have recently been approaching Immigration Matters complaining of a lack of contact from the training organisation which brought them into the UK. Some had been put into basic accommodation and left to fend for themselves. Others had not been given any training or support for over two months.

One student, a young Filipino Nurse called Liza, said that she had heard nothing from Affinity since coming to the UK in May. Last week she received a call from another college saying they had taken over the training from Affinity.

“I did not know what was going on, after two months of just working with no training they suddenly called and said they were transferring me to another college” She said.

Employers have also been informed this week of the demise of Affinity in a letter from a new college offering to take over their NVQ training.

Affinity Student Surgery

Majestic College are running Free Consultations for any international students affected by the collapse of Affinity.

Contact them directly on 0208 207 1020, info@majesticcollege.org or see http://www.majesticcollege.org/

Employers in need of on-going training for their staff can also arrange in-house training through Majestic.

For the latest immigration news visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

If you need immigration advice please email me at: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk