UK: 45,000 immigrants ‘cheated English tests’.

The BBC programme sent non-EU students – who were already in the UK legally – undercover.

They posed as bogus students with poor English, who wanted to remain in the UK to work illegally.

They were told they simply had to have their photograph taken at the test centre as proof they were there – while a “fake sitter” took the spoken and written English computer tests.

In other cases, exam invigilators were filmed reading out the correct answers to a multiple choice English language exam, allowing the class to complete the two-hour test in seven minutes.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, described the allegations as “very shocking”.

The test was introduced top curb the high numbers of people coming to Britain on student visas, but who went on to take low-skilled jobs.