Universities in the UK may be paying education agents to lure Indian students with offers of allowing them to bring their families with them to the country.

A recent report in Telegraph, said that commissions are being paid to agents who market “graduate visas” and help potential Indian students get visas for their spouses and children.

While some agents come up with offers assuring a “full-time job” for a spouse as well as a two-year “stay” in the country, others tell prospective students to hurry as the UK could soon put restrictions on dependents.

The British Council recently launched ‘The UK Quality Agent Framework’ – to provide training, promote a code of conduct and “engage” with high-quality agents to enable students to make “more informed choices”.

According to Jacqui Jenkins, Global Head, International Student Mobility, British Council, the programme offers a one-stop-shop for agents, counsellors and education advisers to better understand the UK as a study destination.

According to reports, India surpassed China to become the largest source of students for the UK with 161,000 students, including 33,240 dependents, coming to the UK last year.

While senior ministers are considering curbs on the number of dependents allowed into the UK and restricting foreign students attending “low-quality” courses, experts warn that the restrictions will bankrupt UK universities, which depend on foreign students for money.

The British High Commission revealed recently that it granted 1.27 lakh student visas to Indians in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 273 per cent over the same period in 2019.