UK sees record low in international students as Indian and Chinese numbers keep falling

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), released last week, shows that while domestic student numbers rose by 1% to 2.2 million in 2024-25 after two years of decline, international enrolments fell 6% to 685,565.

The drop, driven largely by students from outside the European Union, represents the steepest annual decline on record and leaves overseas student numbers 10% below their 2022-23 peak.

Undergraduate recruitment edged up slightly, with undergraduates accounting for 31% of new international entrants, compared with 28% a year earlier.

The decline was concentrated at postgraduate level, at 10%.

"The observed decline in enrolments coincides with changes to dependant visa eligibility, increased uncertainty around immigration policy, ongoing scrutiny of post-study work routes, unfavorable exchange rates, and the rising cost of living in the U.K.," Times Higher Education quoted HESA as saying.

EU student numbers fell 16%, while enrolments from outside the bloc declined 5%, with non-EU students now accounting for 91% of the international student population, according to HESA data.

Indian students remained the largest overseas cohort despite an 11.5% year-on-year fall to 146,480, following a 5% decline the previous year.

Recruitment from China continued to slide, falling 4.3% to 143,200 after a 3% drop the previous year, while student numbers from Nigeria have more than halved since 2022-23 to over 38,040, making this country fall to the fourth place among top senders.

Pakistan rose to become the third-largest source country after a 6% increase in new entrants, after China, climbing to 48,335 from 45,685.

Nepal moved into fifth place after enrolments surged 91% to 24,435 in a single year. The U.K. now recruits 15 times more students from Nepal than it did four years ago.

The changing enrolment patterns reflect a series of immigration and visa policy changes introduced by the U.K. government over the past two years.

According data released last year by the Home Office, for the year ending June 2025, 431,725 sponsored study visas were granted, down 18% from the previous year. This decline was driven largely by an 81% drop in dependent visas following a policy change, while visas for main student applicants saw only a modest fall of just over 4%, from 432,097 to 413,921.

"The decrease in visas issued from 2024 was due to fewer dependents following a policy change for courses starting on or after Jan. 1, 2024, whereby only researched-based postgraduate students are allowed to bring dependents (partners and children) to the U.K.," the Home Office said.

The Home Office last October announced to shorten post-graduation stay period for international students.

Starting in January 2027, international students in the U.K. will be allowed to stay for only 18 months after graduation, down from the current two years.