The UK's Immigration Minister has admitted that a visa scheme which allows foreign students to study in Britain may be subject to widespread abuse.

Damian Green made the statement following revelations surrounding a scandal at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), which had its overseas student visa licence suspended last month after it was revealed that some foreign nursing students were working up to 100 hours a week – a violation of the government's work restrictions on foreign students.

Universities are responsible for ensuring that foreign students whom they admit to study at their institution are doing no more than 20 hours of paid work per week.

The student nurses at GCU involved in the case, who are from the Philippines, were found to be working long hours in care homes, some in locations are far away as Northern Ireland and the south-east of England. Very few lived in Glasgow.

The post-graduate nursing course, which has since been overhauled, could be conducted largely by correspondence, and required that students only be present in class for a few days each month.

The Home Office has said that it is investigating a "third party" which it said arranged for the Filipino students to apply for the course and also for their employment.

Green told the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee that he would "be very surprised if this was the last time we saw something like this."

The deception was brought to light when a partner of one of the students applied for a UK visa. He used wage slips showing that his wife was working up to 100 hours a week, despite being on a student visa, to show that he would be supported.

Home Office officials said that the university had been "shocked" when it was told of the nursing students' situation.

GCU, which was the first UK university ever to have its overseas student visa licence suspended, had the licence reinstated last week.

Principal Pamela Gillies told The Herald that she was "pleased but not surprised" that GCU had had its licence returned.

Edinburgh University Students Association president Liz Rawlings responded to news of the visa scam by saying: "I'm confident that nothing of this kind happens at the University of Edinburgh. In fact, the case at Glasgow Caledonian University seems to be the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, institutions with 'highly-trusted' status have extremely thorough processes for making sure that their international students are supported throughout the time of their degree course. Abuses of the system are few and far between and, despite this exception which is of course worrying, it is important to remember that on the whole international students welfare is of paramount importance to higher education institutions and the system works well to eliminate this sort of exploitation."

According to the Complete University Guide, of students at the University of Edinburgh, 15.5 per cent are international. The website of the University's International Office says that the office serves 8,000 international students.

Neither the International Office nor the Press Office at the University of Edinburgh returned a request for comment.