The 2015-16 HESA enrolment data, released earlier this month, revealed a 1% drop in first-year non-EU enrolments in 2015-16 compared with the previous year, with overall non-EU enrolments falling by less than 1%, from 312,010 to 310,575.
What is perhaps of greater concern, however, is the steady decline in the number of Indian students choosing the UK as a study destination. Indian student enrolments dropped 44% between 2011-12 and 2015-16, from 29,900 to just 16,745. The reported 9% drop in 2015-16 followed three consecutive years of substantially falling numbers of Indian students coming to the UK.
When enrolment figures for Indian students in the UK are compared with enrolment figures of Indian students in the US, there is a stark contrast in the performance of both countries, with the US now hosting ten times more international students from India than the UK.
Whilst Indian student enrolments in UK universities saw a decline of 57% between 2010-11 and 2015-16, Indian student numbers in the US increased by 60% during the same time frame, as reported by Dr Rahul Choudaha, Global HE Consultant.
US UK International Student Trends Data Statistics
He argued, in his blog for the PIE News, that the UK shouldn’t underestimate the opportunities presented by the Indian student market due to its scale and growth potential. In light of this, Dr Choudaha highlighted the influence of recent immigration rhetoric on UK HE:
“Despite the high-quality and reliable reputation of the British higher education system, unwelcoming immigration policies are very likely to hurt the UK’s attractiveness as a study abroad destination.”