The Mayor of London Boris Johnson is today proposing new measures that he believes will help the city retain its position as the education capital of the world and arrest the sharp decline in the number of Indian students who come to London to study.
London attracts 100,000 international students every year, more than any other city in the world. These students contribute £3bn to the capital’s economy and help to support 37,000 jobs according to research from the Mayor’s promotional agency London and Partners.
India is the third-largest international student market in London after China and America. However, the number of Indian students studying at London’s higher education institutions has more than halved over the last five years. In 2009/10 there were 9,925 Indian students in the capital, while in 2013/14 there were only 4,790. This comes at a time when the demand for higher education is growing due to India’s economic growth and the expansion of its middle class.
The Mayor is committed to London and the UK attracting and retaining talent from around the world. Today, at City Hall, the Mayor and senior academics from some of the capital’s leading higher education institutions will agree to put forward to Government two policy options on work opportunities following graduation which would be attractive to students from India and other countries. They are:
• A Commonwealth work visa for up to two years. This would be with India, in the first instance, but could be extended to other Commonwealth countries, if successful. This complements the Mayor’s belief that the UK needs stronger visa relationship with its Commonwealth partners.
• A work visa for graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for up to two years. Although not restricted to nationality, this would be attractive to Indian students for whom STEM degrees are popular. It would also help to meet a critical skills shortage in the UK in areas such as life sciences, engineering and technology.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP said: “London is indisputably the education capital of the world with more top performing universities than any other city globally. However, current restrictions on overseas students are putting off the brightest Indian minds from coming to study in the capital and it is crazy that we should be losing India""s top talent and global leaders of the future to countries like Australia and the United States. I hope we can work with London’s universities and Government to address this and make sure the capital remains the leading destination for international students.”
The Mayor raised the issue of visas during a trade mission to India in November 2012 and wrote to Theresa May, the Home Secretary and Vince Cable, then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills urging that new measures should be introduced to better protect genuine students who wish to study in the UK. This included setting up an ‘Educational Exports Commission’, to promote London’s universities abroad and help to secure the future of one of its greatest exports. In response, the Government set up a similar body, called the International Education Council (IEC) to advocate London and the UK as a destination for international students. In July 2013, the government also published its international education strategy which aimed to grow the number of international students by 15 to 20 per cent to 2018.
Gordon Innes, CEO London & Partners, the Mayor""s promotional company which runs www.studylondon.ac.uk, is attending today’s City Hall discussion. He said: "London has the greatest concentration of top class universities of any city in the world and we also welcome the highest number of international students. International students bring a wealth of benefits to the city and, at a time when we are facing increasing competition from many other countries, we should make sure we are doing all we can to encourage young people to study here and experience everything London has to offer."
Professor David Gann, Vice-President of Imperial College London and the Higher Education Representative on the London Enterprise Panel is chairing part of today’s discussion and said: “Indian students contribute immeasurably to the intellectual, cultural and economic vitality of London. When they come to the capital, great things happen – for the UK, India and the world. Almost every day I meet innovative Indian students who are helping solve global challenges and create new opportunities: from antibiotic resistance and climate change to fintech and personalised medicine. We should be clear: London’s world-class universities’ doors are wide open to India’s brightest students.”
Also attending is Professor David Sadler, Vice Principal (International) of Queen Mary University of London, who said: “Either of the policy options set out by the Mayor, if adopted, would be a step in the right direction to begin to address the decline in Indian students enrolling at many of London’s universities. In offering students an opportunity to gain some relevant work experience in the UK post-graduation, they would help enable us to remain attractive to prospective students and their parents in the face of ever increasing competition for the brightest students globally.”