Number of Applications to UK Colleges from India Increases

The number of Indian students applying for admission to universities in the United Kingdom has shown an increase this year. The number of applications from India received from autumn 2017 to January 2018 is 36 per cent higher than that in the corresponding period a year ago, according to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), UK’s centralized university application system.

As many as 4,470 Indian students have applied for undergraduate courses, which are to begin across the United Kingdom this year, from autumn 2017 till January 2018. The number of students applying for graduate and research courses is not available yet.

There was a decline in Indian students applying to the United Kingdom since 2010 but more and more Indians have started applying since September 2017. Figures released by the Home Office on Nov. 30 revealed a 27 per cent rise in the number of long-term study visas granted to Indian nationals in the year ended September 2017, to 14,081. In 2013-14, the number of Indian students who were granted visa was 19,750.

The latest number of applications sent to the United Kingdom do not reflect those who have been accepted or those who will eventually accept the offers to seek admission. It is still early in the academic year to ascertain exactly how many Indian students were given visa.

There has been an increase in applications from within the European Union (EU) as well this year.

“The UK’s universities are highly popular with EU and international students because of the quality of the teaching and experience they offer. There are probably several factors influencing the increasing numbers of applicants from the EU and beyond. For example, the weaker pound makes the UK a cost-effective place to study,” Helen Thorne, the UCAS Director of External Relations, said.

More than 100,000 candidates from the European Union and other countries have so far applied to the United Kingdom for admission for the 2018-19 session. International applicants, except those from EU, grew by 11 per cent to 58,450. There has been a 21 per cent increase in applications from China, which also sends the highest number of international students to the country. As many as 11,920 applications have been received from China until January 2018.