Indian students shun UK unis for Master's

indian students shun uk unis for master's

Indian students choosing the UK as their higher education destination have started registering a fall, with over 21,000 fewer Master's degree applicants than the previous year being registered in official statistics released in London on Thursday. According to UK Home Office data based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, there was a 16 per cent drop in Indian student applicants over the year ending December 2023 in an overall 10 per cent fall in net migration compared to 2022.

While the figures will come as a welcome sign for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has made curbing migration one of his key planks for a general election now set for July 4, the student visa figures will worry universities who rely on overseas student fees.

"There were 116,455 sponsored study visa grants to main applicants that are Indian nationals in the year ending March 2024, (26 per cent of the total), 21,717 fewer than the previous year," the Home Office report reads.

"The majority (94,149, or 81 per cent) of Indian students come to the UK to study at Master's level, and the recent decrease in Indian students was driven by 21,800 fewer Indian nationals coming to study at Master's level," it notes.

The decrease in numbers is attributed to stricter visa regulations implemented earlier this year, particularly affecting students' ability to sponsor family dependents, spouses, or children. This decline coincides with efforts by university vice-chancellors and diaspora organizations urging the government to maintain the post-study work visa offer under the Graduate Route scheme.

In the year to March 2024, Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted visas on this route (64,372), representing almost half (46 per cent) of the grants.

This reaffirms previous statistics around this scheme, which offers a chance to gain work experience at the end of a degree and is seen as crucial to Indians choosing their higher education destination.

Thursday's data also revealed data under the new India Young Professionals Scheme, which has a quota of 3,000 visas for young people annually and saw 2,105 grants to Indian nationals up to March this year.

According to the ONS, almost half of those immigrating to the UK for work-related reasons came from India or Nigeria, most commonly in the Health and Social Care sector, and Indians continued to top the tally of Skilled Worker visa grants.

The top five nationalities outside the European Union (EU) for long-term immigration flows into the UK in the year ending December 2023 were Indian (250,000), Nigerian (141,000), Chinese (90,000), Pakistani (83,000) and Zimbabwean (36,000). Overall, the ONS data estimates about 1.22 million people came to the UK in 2023 and around 532,000 have left.

The ONS said, "Long-term net migration (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) was provisionally estimated to be 685,000 in the year ending (YE) December 2023, compared with our updated estimate of 764,000 for the YE December 2022; while it is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend, emigration increased in 2023, while new Home Office data show visa applications have fallen in recent months."

109246767

(With PTI inputs)

For more news like this visit The Economic Times.

OTHER NEWS

2 hrs ago

Chennaiyin FC sign experienced Indian defender Mandar Rao Dessai

2 hrs ago

Australia tie with England, India for most successive wins in T20 World Cup

2 hrs ago

BAN vs NEP 2024, T20 World Cup 2024 Live Streaming: When and where to watch Bangladesh vs Nepal live?

2 hrs ago

HCL Tech 2025 Dividend News: Record date fixed by IT stock

2 hrs ago

Airfares likely to taper off from July due to capacity addition, slight fall in demand

2 hrs ago

No land to Adani group in Dharavi project

2 hrs ago

Lok Sabha Speaker election: Sanjay Raut offers INDIA bloc support to TDP; JD(U) backs 'BJP's right'

2 hrs ago

'Can't Give Excuse that You Don't Have Money for Covers': Gavaskar Lambasts ICC for Poor Resources in Florida

2 hrs ago

Nod to Prosecute Arundhati Roy Under UAPA 'Misuse of Power': Sharad Pawar

2 hrs ago

TVF Founder Arunabh Kumar and Director Deepak Kumar Mishra Celebrate the Success of 'Panchayat Season 3' with Cast and Crew

2 hrs ago

30 Trapped Dangling Upside Down From Amusement Park Ride For Half An Hour In US’ Oregon, Rescued

2 hrs ago

IndiGo introduces direct flights connecting Durgapur to Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra and Guwahati

2 hrs ago

US Open Golf: Bryson DeChambeau leads by three strokes after birdie spree

2 hrs ago

With power to YSRCP ceiling fan switched off, hot days beckon Jagan

2 hrs ago

Gautam Gambhir all set to take charge as India's head coach as BCCI allows him to choose his own support staff: Report

2 hrs ago

Namibia all-rounder David Weise announces retirement from International cricket after England clash in T20 WC

2 hrs ago

Jaiswal gets nod to open batting from Vaughan in T20 World Cup Super 8: 'Virat or Rohit, doesn't matter to me...'

2 hrs ago

Delhi: Night temperature still in the 30s, respite likely on Wednesday

2 hrs ago

T20 WC: Batter Jonny Bairstow believes England players 'were relaxed' against Namibia

3 hrs ago

Dividend Alert! Tata Investment, HDFC AMC among stocks to trade ex-dividend on June 18 – Full List

3 hrs ago

SBI Increases MCLR; Loan Rates To Go Up? Read How It Affects Loan Borrowers

3 hrs ago

Elon Musk vs ex-Union Minister over EVMs, Rahul Gandhi jumps in too

3 hrs ago

Lucknow Man on Ventilator Marries Daughters in ICU

3 hrs ago

Revised NCERT textbook mentions Babri Masjid as ‘three-domed structure’, shortens Ayodhya section from four two pages – Key changes listed here

3 hrs ago

The Fall Guy Review: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt Are At Their Goofy Best In This Exhilarating, Meta Stuntman Comedy

3 hrs ago

Modi’s foreign policy stamp

3 hrs ago

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant pre-wedding bash: From luxury cruise in Italy to concert in Cannes- a look at grand affair

3 hrs ago

'It will make jobs…': Bill Gates' message on AI to IT professionals

3 hrs ago

Tainted leaders affecting BJP, ‘foreign powers’, Thrissur win — Hindu Right Press on poll results

3 hrs ago

How PCB sabotaged Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign

3 hrs ago

RBI awarded Risk Manager of the Year Award 2024 by London-based Central Banking

3 hrs ago

How Prakash Ambedkar's VBA denied MVA victory in four Maharashtra seats

3 hrs ago

Upcoming IPOs: Nine public issues and one new listing scheduled for next week; check full list here

3 hrs ago

IPO Calendar Next Week: 3 mainboard, 5 SME IPOs to keep D-street active next week post-election rally

3 hrs ago

F&O Talk| Expect consolidation breakout in Nifty above 23,500, buy on dips: Sudeep Shah of SBI Securities

3 hrs ago

Daribaba is the King Lear to my Cordelia: Sohini Sengupta

3 hrs ago

IND-W VS SA-W Live Score, 1st ODI: India Women vs South Africa Women Live Updates

3 hrs ago

The World Cup kind of starts again now: Mitchell Marsh

3 hrs ago

Moto Edge 50 Pro available at discount on Flipkart, can be yours for under Rs 28,000

3 hrs ago

Manipur HC issues notice to state edu dept on PIL by transgender medical officer