Anti-immigration fears: Number of Indian students in Britain falls in 5 years

Indian students once flocked to the UK but the Brexit blight against immigrants has pulled the plug on the trend to the benefit of Canada and other countries.

December 2017 statistics for international students from the UK Council for International Student Affairs showed Indian students to the country fell a whopping 44% in the last five years.

Despite the blip of a 10% increase in visas to Indian students in the year ending September 2017 from a year ago, the declining numbers is still causing concern. The increase in 2017 to 14,081, was the first time the figures rose since 2010, when 60,000 Indian students got visas.


Strict student immigration laws since 2011 have seen Indian students looking to other destinations for higher education. The political uncertainty regarding Brexit bolsters the sentiment.

“According to the latest figures from the Home Office, in 2017 there were around 16,000 Indian students studying in the UK; compare that with Canada where there were 1,00,000 Indian students in the same period,” says Karan Bilimoria, member of UK’s House of Lords and a strong opponent of Brexit. If Britain leaves the EU and negotiates a new trade agreement with India, movement of people and immigration issues would play an important role. “No trade deal between India and the UK would work if the important issue of migration, especially of students, is not addressed,” Bilimoria, who was in Delhi earlier this week to attend the PIO parliamentarians conference, told ET Magazine.

“The problem associated with Brexit is that we are finding it hard to get much movement on a positive outcome regarding the post-study work visa because the focus of the UK is solely on Brexit,” says Sanam Arora, an investment management consultant who is the president of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union in the UK. She believes Britain should announce a special post-study work visa for Indians and show the willingness to enhance ties with India ahead of Brexit.

Visa Dilemma Currently, Indian students switching to work visas require employers to understand the immigration rules. “It is very tough for Indian students to get jobs in the UK and switch from student to work visas. Often, there is no distinction by employers between an international student with leave to remain and no resident labour market test to go through, versus any other international applicant,” says Arora.

To be sure, universities and members of the Parliament in the UK have been highlighting the need to remove students from the overall net migration targets.

“Even before the Brexit vote, the immigration policy of the British government was a big issue for India and it continues to remain so. Most of the members of Parliament of Indian origin, and many others too, have been demanding for many years that international students should not be considered as immigrants but as a separate category. We have all spoken up in the Parliament on this issue many times, but so far, it has not been addressed,” says Diljit Rana, a member of the House of Lords and a leading hotelier in Northern Ireland. He isn’t very hopeful of any developments till March 2019, when Britain is scheduled to exit from EU.

Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing, Southall, too is concerned about the falling numbers of Indian students in UK universities. British MPs of Indian origin have organised public debates and discussions in their constituencies on the issue. “Even as the UK negotiates with the EU, there are big opportunities for better ties with India. But the immigration issues have to be resolved first,” Sharma, who was also in Delhi, told ET Magazine. He adds that Britain is losing out on talented Indian students who are moving to various other countries because of better immigration rules and lower education costs. “The right wing anti-immigrant agenda of the (British) government is creating huge skills gaps and hitting the economy.”

Priti Patel, Conservative Party MP from Essex and former cabinet minister, too, agrees: “The British government should do more to engage with India and the Indian diaspora even as negotiations with the EU play out. I don’t see a significant reaching out to the British Indian community anymore,” says Patel who was the diaspora champion in the previous government and remains a supporter of Brexit.

Amidst the gloom for Indian students, the good news this month was the announcement of a somewhat smoother transition from Tier-4 student visa to Tier-2 work visas. Students will now have a longer job-search period and not have to wait for their thesis to be marked or degree awarded before starting their work visa application.

“The British Indian community welcomes students from India and we try to support them in different ways in our constituencies. The historic links between the two countries and the huge diaspora are a big advantage for students from India who come to study at our universities,” says Bhagwanji Chohan, who was elected mayor of Brent borough council of London in May 2017.