A huge number of international students at KU have been forced to give up their university places because of “frustrating” new visa rules.

One third of postgraduate and one in five undergraduate international students had to pull out this year because of visa application woes, while others arrived several weeks late for the start of term.

The new visa scheme which was introduced in April by the Government, known as the tier four based system, has been implemented to prevent people from entering the country by falsely claiming they intend to study here.

Jeremy Oppenheim, national leader for temporary migration at the UK Border Agency, said: “The points based system provides a clear and transparent system for bona fide education providers wishing to bring international students to the UK.”

“We continue to welcome genuine international students who make a valuable cultural and economic contribution to the UK’s education system. However, we make no apology for introducing rules checks which are crucial to protect those genuine students wanting to study in the United Kingdom.”

American first year English Language and Communication student Niya Sinckler arrived three weeks late for her course.

She said: “I found it really frustrating and thought the demands were unrealistic.”

Miss Sinckler was shocked at the financial and administrative requirements of her application.

She added: “I had to have £15,000-£20,000 in my bank account despite being a 17-year-old. In these economic times who has that kind of money?”

Many applicants had their visas delayed or rejected because the system caused confusion for students and authorities were slow in applying the new rules.

Miss Sinckler said: “The website would tell you needed certain things and then you would speak to the British consulate and they would tell you something else.”

A KU spokesperson said: “The University continues to work with individual applicants and the UK Borders Agency to try and assist their applications during this period of backlog.”