UK govt extends pilot student visa scheme to 23 varsities

The UK announced extending a pilot student visa scheme to 23 more universities under which Indian and other non-EU students will get six months time to find a job after finishing their course.

Currently, in its second year, the pilot scheme aims to streamline the process for international students looking to study a Masters degree course of 13 months or less in the UK. It also provides greater support for students who wish to switch to a work visa and take up a graduate role by allowing them to remain in the UK for six months after they have finished their course.

Indian students account for approximately 9,600 visas granted in 2016 (or 7 percent), but in 2010 they accounted for around one in five of visas granted at 40,500. Between April 2016 and April 2017, over 7,400 Indian students left Britain before the expiry of their student visas with only 2,209 choosing to extend their visas, according to the Office of National Statistics data.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett, President, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield and founder of the UK-wide #WeAreInternational campaign said: International students are crucial not only to UK scholarship and teaching, but they play a huge role in the life and economy of towns and cities right across the UK.

"The #WeAreInternational campaign will continue to work with universities up and down the country, as well as businesses and the National Union of Students, to make sure the value of international students is fully reflected in all aspects of government policy and we can increase opportunities for talented international graduates to remain in the UK for a period of work experience once they complete their studies. "This will bring us in line with the experience in many other countries and the needs of our own economy," he said.

The recent Home Office statistics show that the number of students applying for visas increased by eight percent over the last year, and there has been a nine percent increase in the number of students applying to Russell Group universities. The recently included 23 universities will be able to apply the pilot to their 2018-19 intake.