Theresa May, the home secretary, has been accused by a vice-chancellor of acting 鈥渓ike a Dalek鈥 and of 鈥渃asting a dark cloud over British higher education鈥 in her refusal to change course on student visas.
Taxpayer-backed funding for students at private colleges rose by 138 per cent to 拢100 million last year, with a private equity-owned institution that did not meet all quality standards accounting for more than a fifth of that total.
A Tory MP has warned that there is opposition on his party鈥檚 front bench to Les Ebdon, following criticism of his comments on the 鈥渟nobbery鈥 surrounding university education.