In the past two years Australia's reputation as a safe high quality education destination has suffered devastating damage in India – a process exacerbated by 2010–12 changes to the study‐migration pathway. Within this context Indian enrolments dropped 27 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and 25 per cent from 2011 to 2012. This article examines the complex interplay of migration and education policies in relation to Indian students in the past decade. It assesses the quantitative evidence available concerning former Indian students’ study choices, engagement in two‐step migration, and employment outcomes relative to other international students and offshore Indian migrants to date. The likely impacts of the latest skilled migration policy trends are then explored, in a context where India remains Australia's second ranked export education market.