Visa curbs hit Indian student flows to UK: Heriot-Watt dy principal

Tighter UK visa rules hit Indian student enrolments, even as universities adapt with flexible learning models and greater focus on AI and employability skills

With tightening visa rules, British universities have seen a drop in overseas student enrolments, including a moderation in Indian student flows, in the latest cycle, said Tadhg O’Donovan, deputy principal & chief scientist at Scotland-based Heriot-Watt University.

 

Data from the UK Home Office shows that the number of Indian students fell by 20.4 per cent between 2022-23 and 2023-24 from 139,914 to 111,329.

 

“Tightening of visa norms for international students around the world are a concern for the university and the education sector, even as the UK continues to offer relatively attractive post-study work opportunities compared to several competing markets,” said O’Donovan.

 

O’Donovan added that Heriot-Watt has bucked the trend, reporting a steady rise in Indian enrolments, with around 3,500 Indian students across its campuses in the UK, Dubai and Malaysia. The most popular programmes among Indian students include business management, accountancy, psychology and computer science.

 

The UK has tightened several norms for international students in recent years, mainly through immigration rules.

 

Since January 2024, most students on taught courses are no longer allowed to bring dependents, while financial requirements have been raised and visa scrutiny increased.

 

Separately, the university said geopolitical tensions in West Asia have led to temporary disruptions at its Dubai campus, with authorities mandating a shift to remote learning from early March.

 

Looking ahead to the September intake, O’Donovan said students may be asked to begin their courses online or from an alternative campus such as Malaysia or the UK if disruptions continue. This is a departure from its usual practice, where such cross-campus movement is typically allowed only in later years.

 

The university is also preparing for a possible shift to remote teaching in the first semester, even as it prefers on-campus delivery.

 

It is working with predicted grades where exams have been disrupted, with internal checks to ensure students are not academically disadvantaged.

 

“This is not our preferred way of teaching but we are managing well since we have experienced this during the Covid years not so long ago,” said O’Donovan.

 

The university added that it is working closely with the UAE’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and expects normal on-campus operations to resume as the situation stabilises. O’Donovan noted that institutions are having to rethink how they evaluate students to distinguish original work from artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted outputs, even as they actively encourage responsible use of such tools. He added that universities must embed AI and digital literacy into curricula to prepare graduates for workplaces where these tools will be widely used, while also teaching critical thinking to assess the reliability of AI-generated content. O’Donovan said the evolving demands of the workplace, including in India, are pushing universities and employers to place greater emphasis on soft skills alongside technical training. These include communication, teamwork, adaptability and the ability to operate in digital and cross-cultural environments. He noted that industry expectations now go beyond domain expertise to include the ability to collaborate virtually, take initiative and function effectively in global teams, prompting universities to embed such competencies into curricula through project-based learning and interdisciplinary exposure.