Brits shop for students in India

THE NUMBER of Indian students turning to the United Kingdom for higher education is picking up after a slump in the 1980s with the introduction of full-cost tuition fees for overseas students. But the flow of students to the United States has dropped for the first time in ten years, by 3 per cent.

Dominic Scott, an education official at the British Council in New Dehli, said the revival of interest in the UK followed the lifting of a cap on the amount of pounds or dollars an Indian could buy, and "foreign" education had become fashionable again.

The council recently organised an education fair in six Indian cities, where representatives from 40 British institutions spent a fortnight "shopping" for students.

Despite an entry fee, nearly 3,000 students made an inquiry and the quality of the candidates was extremely good, said Mr Scott. Nearly half were interested in management courses, 20 per cent in science and technology and the rest the humanities. "Many have already started making applications," said Mr Scott.

Participants included the universities of London, East London, North London, Leeds, Birmingham, Bradford, Cardiff, Greenwich, Hertfordshire and Sussex.

Another group of British universities plans to "shop" some more in February.