Study Abroad News & Alerts

The British government has been imposing perpetual restrictions on international students for the past two years. This includes increasing the minimum savings, discontinuing dependent visas, and increasing visa refusal rates. Now reports are suggesting that the next move of the British government will be to discontinue the after study work visa that is given to international students after completing their education. Already the number of students paying deposits to the UK universities for studying postgraduate courses has decreased by 63%. Several reports suggest that if the UK government decides to discontinue the after study work visa, there are high chances that most students will stop playing for the universities in the UK.

Harper Adams University has awarded over £600,000 in scholarships. Additionally, the university has also announced a lot of new scholarships that will be given to students from this academic year. The dean of the university has said that the generous grant was possible because of a lot of donors. Out of the 178 students who had been selected for the scholarship, 148 have been given awards over £600,000. This achievement is unlike anything any other university has done before. Other than this, the university has also announced 12 new scholarships. After dispersing the scholarships, the university received an overwhelming amount of applications from international students around the world.

As per a report published by one of the leading newspapers in the UK, the post study visa route in the UK is dominated by Indian students. Between 2021 to 2023, more than 82,000 post study visas have been granted to Indian students. This accounts for 42% of the total oh study visas granted to international students. Post study visa is one of the major reasons why a lot of international students especially Indian students pursue higher education from the UK. Recently, there have been reports that the government will impose certain restrictions on the post-study visa route. However, if this happens then Indian students will be severely impacted. The UK has already imposed a lot of restrictions to crack down the problem of over immigration. It is being expected that the next step is going to be related to the post study visa route. 

The Australian government is constantly working on its immigration policy to devise better policies. Now it has been announced that there will be significant changes in the temporary graduate visa policy of Australia that will be implemented from 1st July, 2024 onwards. From now onwards, if a candidate wants to apply for a graduate visa or a post study work stream, they have to be under the age of 35. As per reports, most of the Indian students apply for a post-study work stream or below the age of 35 only. The post study work stream will allow the students to stay in the country for up to 3 years. The condition is that the student must have passed their degree in STEM in first grade.

The government of Maharashtra has introduced a five-year integrated course in both hotel management and planning. Students will be able to get admission into this program through the common entrance test conducted by the government of Maharashtra. These examinations are scheduled to be conducted on 24th May and 25th May. Both the tests are going to be conducted in CBT mode. For syllabus related information, students can check the official website of Maharashtra CET. Students appearing for Masters in planning course must have studied physics, chemistry and mathematics in class 11th and 12th.

The CBSE has officially declared the result for class 10th and 12th on May 13. Students can check the official website of CBSE to check their results and they can also be checked through Digilocker. The class 10th examination was conducted from 15th February to 13th March. Around 39,00,00 students appeared for the class 10th exams. This year 1,32,337 students have been placed under the compartment category and will have to reappear for one or the other exam. 94.75% of the total girl students who appeared for the exam have passed class 10th board exams. 92.71% of the boys who registered for the exam have been able to clear the class 10th board exams. For class 12th, 87.98% of the total students who registered for the exam have been able to clear all subjects. Just like previous year, CBSE has not released any list of toppers this year.

IIT Madras is inviting candidates to apply for its BS in electronic systems programme. This is going to be a four year long program that will give candidates the opportunity to exit any time that they want to. students can get a foundation level certificate, a diploma or a full-fledged degree depending upon when they exit. The applications for the same will remain open till 26th May, 2024. More than 1000 students from around the world are studying this programme from the institute. Students will get to know the theory of the curriculum through online classes and hands-on laboratory experience through in person laboratory classes. Students will also have to give in person examinations.

After the recent notice by UGC to consider NET as the sole exam for giving admission and PhD programmes, many universities have decided to discontinue their respective entrances for PhD. The Banaras Hindu University will no longer conduct its RET which is an entrance exam meant for giving admission to students and PhD programmes. The university will solely give admission to students on the basis of their score in NET. The university will give 70% weightage to the scores of the insurance exam and 30% weightage to the interview given by the student. The admission will be given on the total marks scored by the student in both the entrance exam and the interview.

IIT Delhi has launched three new emasters courses in applied mathematics, electrical vehicle systems, robotics, and data science. These programmes will range from a span of 2 academic years to 3 academic years. It is compulsory for all applicants to have a working experience of at least two years and a bachelor's degree in the field of technology or science. Also it is compulsory to have scored at least 55% in one's graduation. Students do not need GADE scores to get admission into the programme. Admission will be given on the basis of the overall profile of the eligible candidates and will also depend on the level of competition. Students whose applications have been shortlisted will be called for an interview round before being selected finally. 

The correction window for NEET PG has opened and will remain open till 16th May, 2024. All the candidates who have registered for the exam can make any necessary changes in their application if they want to. A lot of time students fill wrong details by mistake and to correct these details, NTA opens the correction window for a brief amount of time every year. The admit cards for the exam are likely to be released on 18th June, 2024. 

The exam is going to be conducted on 23rd June, 2024. It is important to note that after the correction window is over, no students will be able to make any changes in their application form. So students must timely make the needed changes before the correction window closes. For more updates, students can keep checking the official website of NEET PG.

The Australian government has recently made a lot of changes in its immigration policies. This has been done to reduce the number of international students coming to the country by half in the coming year. The minimum English level requirement as well as the savings required by a student have been increased. students are no longer allowed to pursue two courses at a time. A lot of student visa applications are getting rejected for new specific reasons. As a result, students from India are considering options like Germany and Dubai as an alternative for Australia. 

Other countries like Italy, Ireland, and New Zealand are also being considered by Indian students. These countries right now have a more streamlined visa process and a transparent immigration system. These new changes introduced by the Australian government are causing a lot of disruption for international students. They have to wait for a very long period of time before eventually getting rejected.

IIT Madras and the University of Birmingham have collaborated to launch a joint masters programme. The masters program will be a specialisation in sustainable energy systems. The institution has also officially started the registration for the same course. Previously the two institutions had also released a joint masters program in data science and artificial intelligence. This year another initiative has been taken to provide a course in the field of sustainability. The course will teach students to develop sustainable energy systems that will come in handy for the future. The programme will cover different disciplines like technology, development, the concept of sustainability, environment, socio-economic factors and many more. This is a flexible program and will allow students to pursue it either at IIT Madras or at University of Birmingham.

Two universities from Texas, including Rice University and Texas University at Austin have been included in the Forbes magazine as the top universities in the United States of America, having similar educational facilities to that of Ivy League institutes. Forbes magazine has its own set of parameters on the basis of which it made the assessment and came to the conclusion. Other universities that have been included in the list are John Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Virginia, and University of Michigan. Some of the parametres that have been taken into consideration include the student satisfaction rate, employment rate, graduation rate, and infrastructure. 

The University of Sheffield is offering a scholarship called the David Locker scholarship worth £7500 to international students. This scholarship is specifically meant for students who will be taking admission in the masters program in dental public health. To be eligible, the student must have an unconditional offer from the university for the same course. Students can directly apply for the scholarship at the official website of the university. The scholarship is only meant for international students. Students coming from a humble family background with limited financial means will be given more preference. Also, the student must be a first time study abroad student. Students having a competitive academic award will be given preference.

IIT Delhi has introduced new scholarship programmes for bachelors in technology and masters in science programme for students. The scholarship will be given to the existing enrolled students who have maintained a CGPA of 6  in every semester and have an annual income below INR 4,50,000. About 25% of the total students will be given the scholarship. Under the scholarship, the total tuition fee of the students will be covered and each student will be given a stipend worth INR 1000 every month. An additional 10% of the students will be simply getting a fee waiver. Students in their PhD programme will be given a monthly stipend of INR 31,000 and a travel allowance of INR 1,50,000 for attending conferences.

There is a high level of speculation that the migration advisory committee of the UK will be soon releasing its Visa review report on 14th May in which many changes related to the after study Visa policies in the country might be suggested or introduced. One significant change is the discontinuation of the study visa that allows international students to stay in the country for two years and look for proper job opportunities. After study-work visa is one of the biggest reasons why many students choose to study in the US. 

The decision is likely to come on 14th May and is going to be of great significance to international students planning to come to the UK for higher education. In a report published in 2023, it was found out that only 32% of the total international students are able to call and more than the median annual income of the UK. This means that the rest of the international students staying in the country through the graduate Visa route are not even able to make a satisfactory level of income. This is because of the high level of competition in the country because of too many international students coming every year.

Tsinghua University from China is offering a master's scholarship called Schwarzman scholarship to international students. Candidates between the age group of 18 years to 28 years who have an interest to pursue higher education from the university can apply for the scholarship. It is compulsory for students to have a bachelor's degree or any other similar professional degree. Students who will be selected for the scholarship will receive a full tuition waiver, stipend, financial support for books and accommodation as well. The university will also provide travel expenses to the students. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is 12th September, 2024.

Tetr College of Business announced that it will be giving a new scholarship to students that is worth INR 2 crores. Under the scholarship, 15 students from the bachelors in management and technology programme will be selected. Students will have the opportunity to live, learn, and grow through this program without having to worry about the tuition fee. The programme is designed in such a way that students will be spending parts of their course in countries like Singapore, India, Ghana, Brazil, Italy, and the US over the course of four years. Tetr College of Business has collaborations with various institutions. In these countries that allows students to study in different environments and learn.

Australia has once again introduced a new change for international students which has made it even more difficult for students to now get a student visa. Now students will be required to show a savings of AU$29,000 in their bank account to get a student visa. This amount is about 75% of the minimum annual wages in Australia. This change has been done to make students secure while studying in Australia. Most of the students spend more than 25% of the total time in Australia while working part time to afford their lifestyle. However, if they already have the needed money in the bank account, the students will not have to work too much. The government has also altered the requirement for English proficiency, making it higher than before. Also international students are no longer allowed to enrol in two courses at a time. All of these changes are creating a lot of problems for international students who are now sceptical about their future in Australia.

Banaras Hindu University, which is one of the top universities in the country has officially started the admissions for its post graduate programmes. Only candidates who have appeared for the CUET PG can register for admission at the Banaras Hindu University. Students will be given admission on the basis of their marks in the exam. To register themselves, students can visit the official website of BHU and register themselves on the counselling link available on the homepage of the website. All students have to complete the registration process after filling the credentials and paying the registration fee. The registration link is going to stay live only till 25th May, 2024.