UK universities eye students from smaller cities

They always targeted metros and bigger cities for students. Now, British universities are eyeing students from smaller Indian cities, too.

The ‘traditional stations’ for British institutions included places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh and Chennai. Recently, under the ‘Education UK Exhibition’, the British Council organised a six-city tour of India, in association with British universities. The tour began from Bhubaneswar in Orissa on May 7. It had scheduled stops at Jalandhar, Punjab (May 11); Guntur and Vijayawada, AP (May 21, 22); Lucknow, UP (June 11) and Surat, Gujarat (June 15).

The Council is the UK’s official organisation for showcasing educational opportunities and cultural relations. Participating in the Lucknow event were the Universities of Bath, Bedfordshire, Bradford, East London, Glamorgan, Glasgow, Gloucestershire, Sussex and Westminster, besides Birmingham City University, Canterbury Christ Church University, Cavendish College, University of the Creative Arts, Edge Hill University, Kingston University, Liverpool Hope University, Queen’s University Belfast, Roehampton University, Sheffield Hallam University and Teesside University.

 

“British Council organises about 15 annual events in India during February and November. However, the Emerging Market Exhibition is an out-of-league event, as we have focused on smaller towns,” says Amit Chaturvedi, British Council head (north India) Education UK. “Now, we are also focusing on other cities, as smaller markets are also evolving with economic growth.”

Demand from India
Last year, India accounted for about 44,000 foreign students in the UK, second only to China, which sent 60,000. Punjab has traditionally been a big market for the varsities in the UK and Canada.

Education consultants Study Overseas’ representative, Nitin, opines that since British visa rules had been made tougher for Punjab of late to check the operation of fake consultants and agencies, the number of applications from the region had also taken a hit. “This is another reason that the UK varsities are looking at newer markets, especially in the undergraduate level,” he adds.

On UP, Chaturvedi says the market is growing. Centres such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Agra had huge potential, due to the large population base. “However, these markets are still scattered,” he adds.

On the fee structure for UK universities, Chaturvedi said it varied with the course and university. On an average, the annual tuition fee for humanities, science and management streams ranges between £9000-12,000,11,000-20,000 and 8,000-15,000, respectively. The cost of living in the Central London area is around £750/month, while elsewhere in the UK it is around £650/month.

The British Council is also planning to organise an event in Lucknow to explore the possibilities of faculty/student exchange, joint curriculum development and research, in association with institutions such as Lucknow University. The event is being planned by the end of this calendar year. It will also entail taking Indian delegations to the UK.