‘It felt like my way out’

Why Indian students head to UK universities

140k Number of Indian students who sought educational opportunities in the UK last year

The aspiration to travel abroad for university and work has long been ubiquitous across India. In a country of 1.4 billion people, places at India’s top universities are excruciatingly competitive and graduate job prospects at the other end of studies are gloomy. Unemployment topped 8% last month, with graduate unemployment at about 18%.

In 2022, 770,000 Indian students went to study abroad and almost 140,000 of them travelled to the UK.

For those in the middle and upper classes who have the means to send their children abroad for university, it has long been a choice between the US and the UK, both for cultural ease – English is largely the second language of educated Indians – and the quality of academic institutions.

However, high fees and other costs mean it is still only a small percentage overall who get the chance to study abroad. Many families make huge sacrifices 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. There is also a booming and unregulated business of “agents” who help students in India get into British and American universities, often at a heavy cost.

The historical and cultural ties between India and the UK have always made it a favourable choice, as well as the large Indian diaspora in Britain, meaning many people have relatives already living in the country. It also has the significant advantage of being far cheaper than the US, and with a less time-consuming and competitive application process. UK master’s programmes have long been the most popular as they are only one year, so are seen as better value for money: about 70% of the Indian students in the UK are postgraduates.

Trisha Uberoi, 26, who was born in Delhi, did her bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Nottingham in 2015, and then went on to do a master’s in innovation and technology management at the University of Bath. She lives in London, working for a sustainability software company.

Uberoi’s decision to study abroad came from a desire to escape the social restrictions of India, particularly for women. She selected the UK over the US because of the lower cost and less competitive application process and the fact it was a little closer to home.

“Living in India I always felt very restricted,” she said. “Even though I come from an extremely openminded, progressive family, I still really felt the weight of judgment and rules that never felt logical for me. Studying in the UK felt like my way out.”

For years, the number of Indians studying in the UK was in decline. Political pressure under Theresa May’s government led to foreign students becoming targets in the game of political football over immigration statistics in an attempt to create “net zero student migration” and as the opportunity to work in the UK after graduation was made far more difficult, the number of Indian students studying in the UK decreased.

That all changed after Brexit, however, when the UK pledged to increase its international student intake to 600,000 by 2030. As recruitment of foreign students increased, Indian students returned to UK universities in droves and immigration lawyers in Delhi said inquiries about UK student and work visas had rocketed. The number soared further after 2020, when a two-year post-study work visa was reintroduced for graduate students. Indians are now the largest group of students taking up this visa, making up over 40%.

Last year, an agreement was signed between the UK and Indian governments to mutually recognise academic qualifications, also making the UK more attractive.

Sanam Arora, the founder and chair of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK, said that the main draw for Indian students was the ability to secure a post-work study visa, so they did not have to return home immediately.

“Though there is this entrepreneurial spirit in India, there are also major concerns around unemployment, particularly in securing technical jobs for graduates, so a few years work experience abroad after graduating is seen as very important,” she said.