2011 course changes ===
In early 2011, London Metropolitan University announced an overhaul of undergraduate education for students entering courses in 2012. This included a reduction in the number of courses from 557 to 160. The announcement also signalled a move from semester-long to year-long modules, and thirty weeks of teaching, a gain of six weeks on the current average. The university argues that the longer learning time will help increase the opportunity for development and guidance before students move to final examinations. There will be a transition to this new course offering in 2011/12 and this has led to applicants for some courses being contacted and offered alternative programmes.
=== Proposed alcohol-free zones ===
In April 2012, Professor Malcolm Gillies, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, was reported to be considering creating alcohol-free zones and events to enable Muslim students (who form 20% of the student population) to take part more comfortably. This provoked criticism from the Muslim Council of Britain and the university's Islamic societies, who described the proposal as unhelpful and "divisive", but positive comments from representatives of the National Union of Students and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies.
=== UK Home Office/Border Agency action, and consequences ===
On 16 July 2012, the UK Border Agency of the Home Office suspended the university's "highly-trusted status" with the Border Agency, a status required in order for the university to be eligible to sponsor both new student visa applications as well as existing student visas, for foreign students from outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area (or Switzerland). The university was one of three institutions to have such a status suspended.
On 30 August 2012, the university's highly trusted status was revoked, revoking the university's right to sponsor new visa applications for non-EU/EEA foreign students, as well as revoking the existing visas of the university's pre-existing non-European foreign …
