The Government figures have revealed that the number of Indians receiving visas to study in the UK has increased by 6 % in the third quarter of 2016 after seven years of decline. The 2012 abolition of post-study work visas (PSW) has been believed to be one of the key factors for the subsequent decline.
Between July and September, 8,692 student visas – known as Tier 4 visas – were granted to Indian applicants, compared with 8,224 issued during the same period in 2015. Some believe the fall in pound value against rupees, after Brexit has encouraged the Indian students to apply in Britain again.
Traditionally the busiest quarter for student visa applications – since 2009, when UK student visas issued to Indians increased by 72% to 29,207. The number of issued visas increased slightly from 338 to 345 in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, but the third quarter increase was the first significant rise since the first quarter of 2011.
Sponsored visa applications from Indians to study in the UK increased by 5% between 2015 Q3 and 2016 Q3 to 9,207, the largest number since 2013. Across all countries, there was a 2.6% increase in Tier 4 visas issued in the third quarter of 2016 compared with the same time in 2015.
Richard Everitt, director of education at British Council India, said that the increase is an “important market breakthrough point”, particularly because the third quarter was such an important period.
However the Guardian has revealed that The Home Office is considering cutting international student numbers at UK universities by nearly half, Education Guardian can reveal. The threat is being greeted with dismay by university heads, who say some good overseas applicants are already being refused visas on spurious grounds.
The home secretary, Amber Rudd, pledged a crackdown on international student numbers at the Conservative party conference in October, to include tougher visa rules for “lower quality” universities and courses. But senior university sources are warning that the cutbacks could be far more severe than expected. They say they have seen Home Office plans that model slashing overseas student numbers, with one option to cut the current 300,000 to 170,000 a year. International students bring more than £10.7bn to the UK economy, according to Universities UK, the vice-chancellors’ umbrella group. The head of one leading university, who asked not to be named, denounced the potential scale of the cuts as “insane”, adding: “politics is trumping economics”.
