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Foreign students are to be allowed to stay in the UK for an additional year after finishing their studies, immigration minister Liam Byrne has announced.
At present foreign students are able to work in the UK for a year after graduating.
But Byrne declared on Wednesday that this is to be extended by a further 12 months from 2009.
A crackdown on bogus colleges has also been launched by the government, to combat institutions used merely as a front to enable illegal immigration by foreign students.
Under the measures, students will be required to possess a certificate of sponsorship from their college.
Furthermore, to study in the UK, foreign students must be able to prove they can financially support themselves and their families while studying and supply their fingerprints.
Byrne explained: "All those who come to Britain must play by the rules. It is right that foreign students wanting to take advantage of our world-class universities and colleges must meet strict criteria.
"By locking people to one identity with ID cards, alongside a tough new sponsorship system, we will know exactly who is coming here to study and crack down on bogus colleges."
And echoing the immigration minister's comments, higher education minister Bill Rammell said: "I welcome the education sector's involvement in developing a structure that allows international students to benefit from the excellent educational experience the UK offers, while giving them the opportunity to work in the UK for two years following graduation.
"However, I will not tolerate the minority of individuals who seek to damage the quality of our education system through bogus colleges. This is why we have introduced tighter checks to the current Register of Education and Training Providers.”
However, shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "This looks like a stealth amnesty for overstayers. These days ministers like to talk tough on immigration but as so often their actions do not live up to their rhetoric."
At the start of the year, the Daily Mail published a leaked memo written by the Border and Immigration Agency's director of enforcement, Jonathan Lindley, which suggested that the deportation of foreign students who overstay their visa should not be a priority.
This means that hundreds of thousands of students may currently be staying in the UK illegally but do not face the prospect of deportation.
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