Hamza Nasim Ansari and Sushmit Yadav from India have recently completed their studies in the United Kingdom. They share their experience of studying in the UK and suggest seven things you should know before coming to the UK as a student.

This programme is in spoken Hindi/Urdu. It also provides details of the UK websites that you must check, if you are planning to apply for admissions in any of the British universities. Both Hamza and Sushmit suggest tips on how to choose a university, how much it costs to study in the UK and how to make the most of it while studying in Britain.

UK is still a preferred destination of higher education for Indian students. However, the number of Indian students coming to the UK has declined over the years. Six years ago, there were about 30,000 students who came to study in the UK. But now the number has come down to about 16,000 in 2017.

Observers blame the UK government’s ‘discriminatory’ visa policy on the reduced number of Indian students. “The policy discriminates. It is anti-Indian. It’s different from the policy that we have on China and other countries,” told Mr. Virendra Sharma, Labour Member of Parliament from Ealing and Southall, in an interview with Cine Ink’s Pervaiz Alam. The interview is available on Cine Ink’s website.

Expressing his outrage at the decision to exclude India from the list, Mr. Sharma said “Let the Indian students have practical knowledge skills through work experience in this country for 2 years. I have asked for the same in the British parliament. The number of students coming to Britain to study should not be linked to the immigration number game. The new Home Secretary Sajid Javed accepts this argument that students should not be part of the number game on immigration”.

The Home Office announced a relaxation of the Tier 4 visa category for overseas students from around 25 countries in July 2018. The changes make it easier for international students to study in the UK. On a list already covering countries like the US and Canada, several new countries were added including Serbia, China and Bahrain, however India was not included.

India has repeatedly raised the issue of visas for students and professionals at top level meetings, including during British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to India in 2016, and most recently during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London in April 2018, but in vain.

81% of students studying in higher education in the UK are from the UK.  6% are from the rest of the EU and 13% are from the rest of the world. The total number of non-UK students studying in the UK in 2016-17 is 442,375.

Cineink

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