Rupee fall dents flow of Indian students to Britain

About 3 years back India had accounted for about 44,000 students in UK

The sharp devaluation of Indian Rupee against major currencies has hit the flow of Indian students opting to study in British universities and colleges.

“Yes, there has been a decline in the number of Indian students coming to British colleges for study due to the exchange rate fluctuations in recent times,” British Council India Director (Education & Society) Richard Everitt told Business Standard.

United Kingdom welcomes over 4,00,000 overseas students to its institutions annually, of which almost 30,000 are from India. About three years back, India had accounted for about 44,000 students in the UK.

China and India account for the maximum number of foreign students studying in the UK, followed by Malaysia and USA.

“UK is taking steps to make sure that Indian students take admission in genuine and scrupulous varsities,” he further said.

Meanwhile, British Council is keen to facilitate faculty exchange programmes with Indian varsities and other specialised institutions.

“Not only bilateral faculty exchange, we are also keen for tripartite faculty exchanges between the institutions based in India, USA and the UK,” he informed.

British Council has also been playing a key role in facilitating student exchanges between the two countries.

Everitt was in town for the ‘Great UK Education Seminar’ in Lucknow, wherein key stakeholders from the local education sector would get an opportunity to interact with British Council officials.

“Next year, British Council would organise educational exhibition in Lucknow, wherein 50-60 British varsities would participate,” he said.

Such exhibitions are organised in major cities by British Council to showcase universities and colleges before prospective Indian pupils.