Rise in Indians in seeking admissions in UK varsities

London, Mar 20 (UNI) Even as the number of undergraduates in the UK is expected to fall over the next decade, new statistics reveal that there is a constant rise in Indian students taking admissions at British universities.

A report from Universities UK -- the umbrella body for university leaders -- said there would be a fall in the numbers of 18 to 20-year-olds. The overall decline equates to 70,000 full-time undergraduate places over the next 10 years.

However, during the period between 2005 and 2007, there was a seven per cent rise in the number of students from the non-EU countries studying in the UK.

Total numbers of the non-EU students rose from 2,23,855 to 2,39,210, figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

The number of Indian students rose by 24 per cent from 19,205 to 23,835 over that time.

China remains the source of the highest number of non-UK higher education students, although numbers fell by two per cent from 50,755 in 2005/06 to 49,595 in 2006/07. During this time, the number of university students from the EU countries rose by six per cent, from 106,225 to 112,260.

The biggest increase was among Polish students, whose number rose by 56 per cent from 4,325 in 2005/06 to 6,770 in 2006/07.

The number of students from Lithuania and Latvia also increased by 53 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.

The largest group of students from another EU country studying in the UK is from the Irish Republic. Their numbers dipped slightly though, falling by three per cent from 16,790 to 16,255.

between 2005 and 2007.

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