UK Universities has witnessed a growth of nine per cent last year in number of student application from South India compared to previous years, a top British envoy said.
British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Bharat Joshi said. “Last year, it went up by 9 per cent. Students have started to understand much better what the UK system is.”
Explaining further about it, he said, applications were processed from five states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
Informing about the constant increase in the visit visas issued to Indians, he said, “What we have seen is that quality of students applying to United Kingdom universities has improved.”
In response to a question, Joshi revealed that 80 per cent of applications comprise “visit visas”. He also said that this the second highest number of people who travel to UK for work.
According to a press release, for the year ending March 2017, 4.14 lakh visitor visas were issued, of which 11,700 comprise student visas and 5,000 short term study visas. During the same period, 60,000 work visas were issued, it said.
Explaining the reasons for increase in number of student applications, the high commissioner said, “Students are starting to understand much better.”.
In response to a question on the impact of Britain exiting the European Union, Joshi said, ” The (UK) government is clear that once we leave the European Union, United Kingdom will become a ‘beacon’ for a fair rules based trade system.”
“We want to see more global trade and more investments and we will be looking for more partners to support that.. I think, the relationship with India is no secret.. India is one of the key destinations.. About two-thirds of all work visas globally issued are to Indians.. That is a huge statistic,” he added.
