Overseas Students
(asked on 21st October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in international student enrolment at UK higher education institutions since 2021; and what assessment she has made of the impact of Student visa refusal rates on the finances of those institutions.
The table below shows non-UK student enrolments between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Year | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
Total non-UK enrolments | 600,180 | 675,200 | 758,865 | 729,850 | 685,565 |
Source: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-from.
The government has been clear that while we welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK, higher education providers sponsoring international students play an important role in ensuring our immigration system is not exploited or abused.
Moreover, providers should not be overly reliant on international student recruitment as an income source. The Office for Students (OfS) has identified reliance on international student fee income as a risk to financial sustainability. It has made clear that providers will need to change their business models to protect their financial health.
The OfS is responsible for managing the sector's finances and the department continues to work closely with the OfS to better understand the sector’s financial landscape.