Study Group: Don’t Let Britain Lose to the Aussies This Summer

New visa requirements put Britain at threat of losing thousands of Hong Kong students to Australia

Agents in Hong Kong are encouraging students to apply for Australian universities over those in Britain, as new visa requirements set by the Home Office make it impossible for Hong Kong student applications to be processed in time for the new term. The glitch was revealed by Study Group, the largest independent supplier of international students to universities in Britain, educating over 9,000 foreign students in the UK each year.

James Pitman, Managing Director Study Group, comments:

“The HKCEE results are released on 4th August and the turnaround time for British visa applications is around six weeks. So even those students who apply on the day they get their results, will only receive their visas on 15th September, six days after the term start date here.

“As a result, counsellors on the ground who help students to apply for international education are advising them to apply for the Australian programme. Although interest in the UK is still high in the region, our agents report that students are worried about applying, and are therefore opting for the easier alternative – Australia.“

James Pitman continues:

“This is just one country, but to illustrate the scale of the threat: earlier this year we made a request from the UK Border Agency under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many study visas had been requested by country over the past two years. In 2008, there were 2980 student visa applications from Hong Kong, of which 2877 were granted, meaning that Hong Kong represents a sizeable market for our education sector. When you consider that these students are highly valuable to the industry in terms of the fees and other economic benefits they bring, the international dimension they add to our lecture halls, and the resulting future diplomatic advantages, this is no small issue.”

“Add to that the new requirements for biometric visas, an increase in visa fees from £99 to £145, swine flu, and the recent introduction of ID cards for international students, and it is clear to see that one of the UK’s greatest hidden exports, estimated to be worth in the region of £8.5bn to the our economy each year, is under serious threat.”
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