UK to Allow Indian Students to Work during Study Term

In a new development, the United Kingdom has finally decided to allow Indian students to work while they study in the UK universities. This development follows the recent decision to ban overseas students from outside the European Union (EU) to work while they study in the country.

In an announcement made on the 13^th of July, 2015, the UK announced that from the next month onwards, overseas students will not be allowed to work in the UK while pursuing their academic courses unless they are citizens of the European Union. These new rules were revealed by the UK home secretary Theresa May.

What is the reason behind the ban on overseas students working in the UK?

The main reason behind the UK deciding to implement such a ban is to stop the misuse of immigration policies by overseas students. The UK wants to curb instances of immigrants using educational institutions as a strategy to obtain British visa. So, this new policy was adopted for the non-EU students studying in the UK.

At present, students from outside the European Union who are studying at publicly-funded further education (FE) colleges in the UK have the right to work for up to 10 hours per week. But from August this year non-EU students will lose this right.

What does it mean for Indian students who are studying in the UK?

The UK has said that Indian students who are studying in the UK for their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees will be able to work for 20 hours a week during their regular course term and full-time during the holidays.

How does it affect Indian students undertaking vocational courses in the UK?

This latest decision changes the scenario for those Indian students who continue to study vocational courses just to be able to work in the UK. As per the new rules, students who want to continue studying in the UK or repeat degrees will have to show that the degree or academic course will lead to education progression.

They will have to justify their taking up the course by showing that the new course has a link to their previous course or has to get a confirmation from the university declaring that the course will help in the student’s career ambitions.

How does it affect new Indian students heading to the UK for higher studies?

According to this policy, new Indian students coming to the UK will be prevented from working at publicly funded colleges. The UK universities have strengthened their regulations and devised a method to identify fraudulent colleges that admit overseas students.

What is the overall implication of this new policy for overseas students?

Non-EU students studying the UK will come under quite a few restrictions because of this new policy. The UK has decided not to permit overseas students from applying for visas after they complete their academic course.

Further, the UK immigration authorities have decided to decrease the term of the student visas issued for public colleges from 3 years to 2 years. After the visa term gets over the overseas students will have to leave the UK.