Student visas fall by a fifth

By David Matthews. The number of visas issued to overseas students has fallen by a fifth although applications for university student visas have increased by 3 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics.
The statistics come as the government was accused of failing to deliver a "credible response" to a recommendation from the House of Commons Business, Skills and Innovation Committee that students should be removed from net migration targets.
There were 209,804 study visas issued for the year ending December 2012, a fall of 20 per cent on the year before, although these data are not broken down by universities, colleges and schools.
There was a sizable drop off in study visas issued to students from South Asia: Pakistani (-69 per cent), Indian (-50 per cent), Sri Lankan (-72 per cent) and Bangladeshi (-53 per cent) nationals all saw steep declines. Read more...