Stricter visa norms giving impression that the immigrants are not welcome in the UK any more, says overseas education expert
The United Kingdom continues to lose its sheen among students in the sub-continent for the fifth year in a row. The enrolment figures released on Thursday by UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency reveal that the number of Indians studying in British universities dropped 12% in 2013-14 from the year before, dwindling from 22,385 to 17,750.
The number of Pakistani students going to UK also dropped 7% in the same period from 6,665 to 7,185. The number of Chinese students, the biggest non-European Union group, is steadily rising though, the report says. Approximately 87,890 Chinese students were studying in UK in 2013-14 compared to 83,800 a year ago, which is a 5% rise.
In the past five years, UK varsities registered a cumulative 49% decline in enrolment of Indian students. Stricter visa norms implemented by the conservative David Cameron government, which has pledged to reduce the net migration to "tens of thousands" by 2015, is being seen as the primary reason for the consistent drop in enrolment from India.
"With abolishment of post-study work visa in 2012, international students have fewer opportunities to work in the UK after finishing their degree. Then, a proposal of imposing a bond for visa for Indians, which was scrapped later, gave an impression that immigrants are not welcome in the UK any more,” says an expert on studying abroad.
Around £17 billion is generated each year by universities in UK, £10 billion of which comes from overseas students through fees and expenditure. This fund is dwindling.
More Indians are now heading to Australia, Canada, Germany and the US. The US which is the largest study-abroad destination for Indians, has seen a 6.1% surge in enrolment in the 2013-14 compared to the previous year, after a three-year decline. This suggests the diversion of pupils from the UK to the US. More than 1.2 lakh Indians are currently studying in various US universities according to the 'Open Doors' report released November 2014.
Experts say Asian countries are also eating up into UK's pie. Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong are attracting a good number of middle-class aspirants with affordable world-class education closer home.
"Besides, better education and job opportunities at home have also decided the choice of Indian youngsters. More and more Indian universities are collaborating with foreign universities, offering dual degrees at affordable costs, which is meeting the demand of the Indian middle-class that can't afford UK education owing to the depreciation of the rupee," say experts.
Indian students enrolled in higher education institutes in UK
2013-14: 19,750
2012-13: 22,385
2011-12: 29,900
2010-11: 39,090
2009-10: 38,500
25,000 UK students to study in India
While UK doesn't seem to be the preferred choice for many Indians for higher education, as many as 25,000 students from that country are set to come to India to get study and work experience over the next five years, a senior British high commission official said. The move under a new programme called 'Generation UK' aims to improve Indo-British partnership.
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