The Home Office has announced that the post-study work visa will be closed from April 2012 as a part of the David Cameron government's efforts to reduce immigration. The recent changes to the student visa administration are also driven by efforts to prevent its abuse.
According to Times Higher Education (THE), an authoritative publication focused on the higher education sector, British Universities have been “hit by the downturn in demand from Indian students”. Noting that changes to the student visa regime had adversely affected international students, THE reported that “a number of institutions are seeing declines between 20 and 30 percent in applicant numbers from the Indian subcontinent”.
THE had also reported in its latest issue that, this is in addition to Middlesex University and the University of Greenwich, two institutions that have recruited heavily from the region and are already known to have experienced a dip in demand from India.
THE also said, “The fall is thought partly to be due to negative media coverage of UK visa policies, but is also being influenced by the closure of the existing post-study work in April 2012.”