National Indian Students and Alumni UnionUK (NISAU UK), the organisation representing Indian students and alumni in the United Kingdom has partnered with the Educational Testing Service, the world's largest private non-profit educational testing and assessment organisation to launch the ‘UK-India TOEFL® Scholarship’ for Indian students looking to study in the UK.
As part of the scholarships which have been announced as part of the NISAU’s India UK Achievers Honours celebrations to mark India at 75, NISAU at 10, ETS at 75 and India-UK educational ties, 25 Indian students will receive a grant of up to INR 2.4 lakhs to contribute towards the cost of their UK education. The scholarships will recognise and support applicants who can demonstrate excellent academic achievement and can demonstrate how they are intending to create a social impact with their UK education.
The funds are intended to provide financial support for university expenses, including but not limited to tuition, books, housing deposits and transportation. A panel consisting of the NISAU UK, representatives of UK universities and industry bodies will select the winners of this scholarship.
Eligibility criteria
All applicants must fulfil the following eligibility criteria: A minimum TOEFL® test score of 75 out of 120, An offer letter from a UK university and Applications must demonstrate that they are intending to study a fee-paying undergraduate or postgraduate taught degree-level course, and are enrolling for the first time at a UK university. To participate, applicants must submit a copy of their TOEFL® test score report, an essay on 'Creating a social impact with a UK-based Education' [500 words], and their personal and academic achievements on www.toefltest.in/scholarship.
Applications are now live and the deadline for submission is 31 May 2023.
Commenting on the launch of the scholarships, NISAU Chairperson Sanam Arora who was recently appointed as a Commissioner of the UK’s International Higher Education Commission, said, “It has been a longstanding dream for the NISAU and for me personally to be able to provide scholarships to Indian students who wish to use their British education for creating positive social impact and give back to society. With ETS’s support, we are absolutely delighted to be able to offer $75,000 worth of scholarships to 25 young Indians who will hopefully become the changemakers of tomorrow. We are delighted to be able to play a small role in addressing the inequity that can sometimes stop the best and brightest students from securing world-class UK education and to be able to do this as we celebrate 75 years of India’s independence and 10 years of NISAU is just incredibly special. I look forward to going through what will no doubt be special applications from the most deserving students.”
According to the ONS data, the international student population in England and Wales: Census 2021 states that studying is one of the main reasons people migrate to the UK. The study suggests that there were 373,600 non-UK-born, non-UK passport-holding international students in England and Wales at the time of Census 2021. India (11.6%), China (11.2%), Romania (9.5%) and Nigeria (5.3%) were the top 4 individual countries of birth of international students. A third of the international student population was in London (33.9%). One in three international students were in employment; Eastern European countries had the highest proportions in employment alongside studying (Romania, 73.9%; Bulgaria, 62.3%; Poland, 56.7% and Lithuania, 56.0%). International students’ residence type varied by age, with most students aged 18 to 25 years living in communal establishments (36.4%) or an all-student household (28.7%), while most students aged 26 years and above lived in single or multiple-family households (59.0%). Of the international students whose preferred main language was not English (239,000, 64.0%), 59.3% and 35.5% reported being able to speak English ‘very well’ and ‘well’ respectively.
