Indian students to UK rise by record 63 percent

The overall data released by ONS indicates that over the last decade, approximately 2,70,000 Indian students have chosen to pursue their higher education in the UK.

The UK government witnessed a remarkable hike of 63 per cent hike in the number of Indian students being granted visas to study at British universities over the past year. As revealed in the latest statistics released by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS), a total of 30,550 Indian students received a Tier 4 Study Visa for the year ending September 2019. This is up from nearly 18,730 in 2018.

According to Sir Dominic Asquith, the UK High Commissioner to India, "The UK has been witnessing an increase in the number of Indian students from the past three years consecutively. The statistics confirm that more Indians are choosing to study at the UK's "world-class educational institutions. This is important as these young leaders of tomorrow will reinforce the living bridge that connects India and the UK."

The overall data released by ONS indicates that over the last decade, approximately 2,70,000 Indian students have chosen to pursue their higher education in the UK.

The latest visa statistics also reflect the UK's popularity among Indian tourists. There has been a nine per cent increase over the previous year, with more than 5,12,000 people being granted tourist visas during the same period. India also continues to lead the number of skilled worker Tier 2 visas granted by the UK over the previous year at 56,241, up from 55,136.

Speaking in reference to the analysis, the UK Home Office said, "Indian nationals account for over half (51 per cent) of all Tier 2 visas granted by the country. However, the latest year saw notable increases in grants for nationals of the Philippines (up 1,998 or 57 per cent), Nigeria (up 1,446 or 71 per cent), India (up 1,105 or 2 per cent) and Egypt (up 1,062 or 76 per cent)."

The ONS data, this year, found an overall reduction in net migration from the European Union (EU) into the UK which is seen as an impact of the ongoing uncertainties around Brexit. The difference between EU nationals arriving and leaving in the year ending June 2019 was 48,000, the lowest level since 2003 when the EU was expanded to eastern European countries such as Poland and Lithuania. In contrast, an estimated 2,29,000 more non-EU citizens moved to the UK than left in the year ending June 2019.

"While there are more EU citizens moving to the UK than leaving, EU net migration has fallen since 2016, driven by fewer EU arrivals for work. On the other side, non-EU net migration has gradually increased for the past six years, largely as more non-EU citizens came to study," an ONS spokesperson said.

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