Out of them, 342,620 students from non-European Union (EU) nations. The government has planned to grant students a Post-Study Work Visa of two years after graduation, even when they can’t travel to their home country to physically join the classes. The government is providing the English language foundation course and a wide range of scholarships that are a few of the measures approved by the UK. Looking at these attractive policies, the country is becoming the go-to destination for several Indian students who aspire to pursue higher education overseas, especially when the situation of international students is worse in America in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new ICE policy of the Department of Homeland Security forces overseas students to leave America if their classes are delivered only online due to coronavirus. As opposed to it, the United Kingdom is making its best efforts to allure a greater number of overseas students as it navigates via the pandemic and Brexit. Out of 485,645 foreign students in the UK, 342,620 of them are from non-EU nations, 120,385 are from China, 26,685 students are from India and the remaining 20,120 are from America. As per the recent data obtained from HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency), new registrations from India have gone up by 28 percent in 2017-2018, which showed an addition of 2,745 more students. Looking at the constant reduction in numbers from India between 2011 – 2016, an increase of seven percent from 2016 to 2017 and 28 percent from 2017 to 2018 marked a notable shift.
Statistics showed that the major increase in growth was through 2,115 new enrollments of postgraduate students. There was also seen growth at undergraduate and postgraduate research levels. A massive 75 percent of enrolments at the postgraduate level were recorded from India. Around 570 students were enrolled in undergraduate levels, and 60 students were enrolled in postgraduate research levels. The research conducted by IDP Connect websites on the behavior of students showed that there is around eighty-three percent of the traffic of students who are having their eyes set on the UK for postgraduation. Another important insight received is that the major traffic is reported from India.
In 2012-2013, there were around 40,000 Indian students were studying in the UK. On the removal of post-study work visas by the government, this number went down to 20,000. Rohit Vadhwana, the First Secretary (Economic, Press, and Information), HCI, London confirmed that now that the government is again providing post-work visas for students, there is noticed an increase in the number of Indian students. Due to the arrival of a large number of Indian students in the UK, it is significantly helping the country to build a bridge of exchange of best technology and innovation practices and knowledge sharing. He also added that they support the economy of the host country through their study as well as stay in Britain. The news that overseas students, including the ones from India, will make a massive contribution to the GDP of the UK is confirmed by Universities UK. It is an organization that embodies 137 universities in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
Stephanie Harris, Head of International Engagement (non-EU), and UUK International said that overseas students make a valuable contribution of £6.9 billion to the colleges in the area of tuition fees. This contribution helps in widening the economy of the country. The financial impact of the overseas student includes, but isn’t restricted to £3.3 billion in tax revenues and £25.8 billion in gross output for the Britain economy. UUK website also mentions that the government wants a migration system that assists universities in the UK to attract overseas students and highly competent staff from all parts of the globe. Their verdict to leave the European Union gives the government a chance to again deliberate on the migration system and develop immigration strategies that make the most of the profit all overseas university students and staff can bring to Britain. In response to one query, an official of HESA told the Indian Express that 17 percent of the income of UK universities in 2018-19 was obtained from the tuition fees of non-UK students.
Foreign students spent around £5.4 billion off-campus on services and goods. This spending supports around 206,600 jobs throughout the UK. Visitors to overseas students spent around £520 million that generated a projected significant impact of £1 billion in gross output. These overseas students are accountable for £10.8 billion of export earnings of the UK. The continued financial activity and employment by off-campus spending of foreign students produced tax revenues that equal to the pay of 25,000 police officers or 31,700 nurses. In answer to how UK universities are preparing for the intake of internal students along with the COVID pandemic, Harris said, UK Universities are aware of the uncertainty caused to students in this period and are providing various flexible options and support mechanisms.
They told that the top priority of the university is to provide safety and overall wellbeing to the staff, and students. Indian students should consult their admissions teams at the university in case of any queries regarding their studies in the UK. The government has also made several concessions and showed flexibility in preparations for overseas students. This includes the policy that confirms that the overseas students qualify to apply for the new graduate migration route that allows students to continue staying in the UK for work-related purposes after graduation. This rule is applicable even when they aren’t able to travel to Britain due to Covid-19 to begin their course. For Ph.D. students, the government has recently increased the validity of this visa to three years.”
These concessions are going to make a massive difference to Indian students who are considering Britain as their education destination. The director of London Online College, Baljinder Singh Rathour told that The UKVI announced that from Summer 2021, any international student who completes a degree will qualify for two years of post-study work graduation visa. This policy will attract students from India to pursue studies in the UK as they get the opportunity to recover their expenses and fees but also get incredible international work experience.
UK universities have also reduced their English language requirements that make it easy among all the competitors that include the US, Canada, and Australia. Gurpal Oppal, a famous immigration lawyer with several offices in Punjab, says that the UK government also offers foundation English courses with innumerable scholarships that will allure more people from India, particularly Punjab. Oppal has assisted a thousand Indian students who are studying abroad, specifically in Britain.
Reference Link – https://indianexpress.com/
