The total number of international students applying for admissions in educational institutions of the United Kingdom has come down by a quarter, after it tightened visa regulations to check fraudulent admissions, a senior British diplomat said here today.
"Usually the number of international students used to be around 40,000 every year. But it was some 30,000 students in the last year or so. It has come down by 10,000," British High Commission counsellor (Prosperity) Andrew Soper told reporters here, replying to a query.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, where he launched GREAT scholarship and GREAT career guide, he said, "If you are a genuine student wanting to study in a genuine university, you will get a visa."
GREAT scholarships worth Rs 10 crore are to be given to 260 beneficiaries, who intend to take admissions in 370 educational institutions in the UK between September 2014 and January 2015.
Replying to another query on reports of proposals for a visa bond for Indian students, Soper said, "Bond was nothing more than a proposal. We realised it was a bad idea. There is no bond."
Explaining on the new visa regime for international students, especially to Indians, he said, "You can work in a graduate level job for 20 hours a week, while studying in the UK. You can also work for three years after completing your studies and thereafter for another three years, if you qualify certain guidelines."
He said that there were over 4,30,000 international students in the UK presently, including 30,000 from India.
