By Cheryl Yu
Recently, the UK government announced several changes in UK immigration policies and the review of the UK Graduate Route. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual statement also referred to the ‘low tariff’ and ‘low fee’ universities concerning the recent years' growth of international students predominantly from South Asia countries. The narrative also suggests that graduate route users are taking low-paid jobs, and so the route might not be achieving for the country.
All recent changes in the landscape of international recruitment spurred me to reflect on the cause and values of international education, with a particular focus on Indian students. For this purpose, I invited the CEO of Fateh Education, Mr Suneet Kochar, to share local insights into the understanding of Indian students studying in the UK or elsewhere.
Motivations for Studying in the UK
According to Mr Suneet Kochar, we can categorise the motivation for choosing to study in the UK as two key categories.
· The pursuit of the best quality education for affluent families.
· The pursuit of high-quality but affordable education for middle or upper-middle-class families.
The issue in India is that there currently is an unbalance of supply and demand for high-quality education, largely because of the population as well as other determining factors. Speaking to many Indian graduates in the UK, studying in the UK offers them more than just degrees (namely subject knowledge) but more importantly international exposure, global perspectives and experience. This could be studying alongside other international and UK students, trying to live a student life in a foreign country (different culture) and trying to gain some work experience and extra money through a part-time job.
Naturally, everyone wants to get into a Russel Group university in the UK, but the affordability means that some students will choose the post-92 modern university where the tuition fee is slightly cheaper or places where the living cost is cheaper in comparison to London. The segmentation of industrials and organisations in India, in particular, with many SMEs, value more personal attributes and capabilities, whereas some major investment banks might pay more attention to the ranking of the graduate university of a student. The industrial experience is highly valued by employers back in India.
Financial Support of Indian students
The rhetoric of ‘low tuition’ fees is not that low for many international students. When UK students typically rely on student loans to be able to afford the £9,250 a year and living cost, why should we expect students from developing countries to be able to easily afford higher tuition fees plus international travel costs?
Student loans equally play a big role in funding Indian students to study in the UK, nearly 80% of the students have taken some sort of loan, small or big. The government mandates the banks, public or private, to offer educational loans, to make quality education accessible to students. Many Indian families make huge sacrifices and investments to send their children to foreign universities, often mortgaging their homes or taking on huge personal debt, with the view that it is a worthwhile investment in the long term. International higher education becomes one of the very few routes of social mobility for many Indian students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What is happening to Jan/Feb 2024 and Sep 2024 intakes
The surge of Indian students choosing the UK during the last years was the result of several reasons, the closure of other English-speaking destination countries, such as Australia, and Canada. At the same time, the change in UK immigration policy on dependents and the change in visas during the study influenced Indian students to choose destinations.
Early this month, Enroly predicted a significant fall in international student numbers for the UK’s January 2024 intake, the data shows that overall deposit payments are down by 52%, CAS insurance is down by 64% and visa issuance is down by 71% when compared to January 2023.
While some UK universities were complacent in their international students’ numbers during the last two years, these data show us a concerning landscape of the UK international higher education for the coming year or years to re-assess our internationalisation strategy and actions. However, like any business which experiences expansions, it should expect that there would be a point of decline or return to normality. It is more or less whether universities are ready for this return to normality.
Some reflections
In fact, surprisingly often, masters courses at “top” universities have similar academic entry requirements to those at the other end of the tables. Admissions equivalencies can vary between institutions, but in more than a few cases, the top 20 institution courses ask for a 2:2 equivalent at degree level – the same academic requirement for similarly titled courses at universities in the bottom 20.
The key themes for Indian students studying in the UK are centred around high-quality education and international exposure. Studying in the UK remains the dream of many international students. We all know studying abroad is more than a degree, but is the full package of international experience.
Returning to the ‘low tariff’ and ‘low fee’ comments, should we ask whether international education in the UK is only designed for the rich and privileged who can afford to go to the ‘high fee’ and ‘high tariff’ universities?
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