Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to increase international student numbers from India, in the light of the publication of Indian Student Mobility Report 2016 by M M Advisory Services. which points out that, despite the high growth in overseas students from India, the number of students coming to the UK has declined steeply in recent years and is likely to be overtaken by Germany.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
We welcome international students from all countries to study at our world-class universities. There is no cap on the number that can come here and the UK remains the second most popular destination for international students.
The Government is working closely with India to strengthen education ties with the UK. In November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers’ jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’ and the following month my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister of State for Universities and Science led a delegation to India, accompanied by 28 vice-chancellors and college leaders to increase sector-to-sector partnerships.
We are funding major bilateral agreements, including: the UK India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) which supports partnerships in education and research; the Newton-Bhabha Fund, bringing together science and innovation partners to tackle economic development challenges; and supporting the Generation UK-India programme which is increasing the number of UK students taking placements in India. We are also promoting recruitment to the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign.