Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, hinted at potential plans to crack down on foreign students enrolling in “low-quality” degrees in an effort to reduce net migration.
According to officials from Downing Street, the UK government is considering imposing restrictions on the admission of international students who are enrolled in “low-quality” degrees and who are bringing dependents, according to a report by the news agency BBC.
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The notion is being examined, according to the spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, after official data revealed net migration to the UK reached a record-breaking 500,000. The spokeswoman failed to clarify what the administration meant by a degree of “poor quality.”
Plans to reduce the number of international students include limiting admission to the best universities in the UK, according to a separate report from the Times magazine.
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Let’s look at Indian students abroad and how the UK matches up as their preferred study destination since the country aims to limit the number of foreign students-
- By 2024, there will likely be 1.8 million Indian students pursuing higher education overseas, according to estimates.
- Higher education overseas enrollment by Indians increased from 440,000 in 2016 to 770,000 in 2019. Collectively, these students spend $28 billion a year.
- Canada is the top destination for Indian students who travelled abroad to study in 2019, boasting 220,000 pupils. Following the United Kingdom with 27,500 students and Australia with 143,000 students comes the United States, with 202,000 students.
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- What do they study? The most common option for Indian students who seek higher education overseas is postgraduate programmes. In both the US and Canada, only 13% of students chose undergraduate programmes, while 87% opted for graduate programmes. In the UK, only 29% of students registered in undergraduate programmes as opposed to 71% who did so for graduate study.
- The statistics from Australia, where 79 percent of Indian students went to study undergraduate studies and 21 percent continued on to pursue graduate degrees, were the most surprising, though. The average enrolment in UG programmes made up 20% for the remaining countries, making PG courses, which had an average enrollment of 80%, the most popular level of study.
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- It should also be noted that the majority of students who enrolled in higher education selected specialised over general programs, with 70% of Indian students selecting the former and only 30% selecting the latter.
- Which States do Indian students who study abroad typically come from? Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, with 12 percent each, Maharashtra, with 11 percent, Gujarat, with 8 percent, followed by Tamil Nadu, with 7 percent, and Karnataka, with 5 percent, are some of the states with the largest student migration to other countries. 45 percent of all student exodus is from the rest of India.