Number of Indian Students Applying for UK Student Visas Increases in 2021

Universities across the United Kingdom have received 9,930 applications from students from India in 2021, thus marking a 30 percent increase compared to the number of applications received last year, which stood at 7,640, data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) have indicated.  

The applications for UK student visas have closed on June 30, and many Indian students are now waiting to receive their UK visas in time for the September term, Erudera.com reports.

With the pandemic travel restrictions in the UK still being in place and India remaining on the country’s travel “red list,” the returning Indian students will be asked to quarantine for ten days once they arrive in the country. While the majority of travelers who have stayed in India within the 10 days prior to their travel are not allowed to enter the UK at the moment, international students with valid UK visas will not be affected by these rules.

The Director of the Universities UK International (UUKI), Vivienne Stern, said that the increase is linked to the “incredible resilience” that the UK university community has shown during 2021. According to her, UUKI is looking forward to safely welcoming more students to the UK.

“Thanks to UK government policy and the support structures that UK universities have put in place, we can prepare for the start of term with the flexibility students will welcome,” Stern added.

Furthermore, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reveal that UK universities have seen a remarkable increase of 38,580 Indian students between the academic years 2015/16 and 2019/20. During the academic year 2019/20, the UK universities welcomed a total of 55,465 Indian students.

UCAS Chief Executive Clare Merchant said that universities will host more students for the autumn courses and have been working to enable students to move forward with their level of study.

According to the UK Department for Education (DfE), India is one of the countries where the UK is expected to help in increasing the value of education exports and the numbers of international students. Indian students contribute 60,000 pounds to the UK economy annually.

Different from the UK universities, Australian universities have seen a decrease of more than 80 percent in the number of new Indian students in the second half of 2020, which drop could cost Australia’s international education sector more than than $30 billion.