TheUnited Kingdom is among the world's most popular destinations forinternational students, regularly placing within the top four countries for hosting international students alongside theUnited States,Canada andAustralia.[1][2] Data from theHigher Education Statistics Agency indicates that students from the three countries ofIndia,China, andPakistan together account for just under half of all international students enrolled at higher education institutions in the UK.[3]
In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 685,565 international students studying at UK higher education institutions, equivalent to 23.9% of all higher education students in the UK – ranging from 14.6% inWales to 25.7% inScotland. This represented a 6.1% decrease in international students from the previous year (2023/24: 729,850, 2022/23: 758,855 and 2021/22: 679,790).[3]
TheUniversities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) estimates that the number of international students will continue to increase with international applications to study atBritish universities expected to increase by 60%, from around 150,000 in 2022 to 240,000 in 2030.[4][5] As of 2023, 58 currentworld leaders have been educated at a higher education institution in theUnited Kingdom, second in the world only to the United States' 65.[6]
The top 15 countries and regions sending students to the United Kingdom in 2024/25 are listed below.[3]
| Rank | Place of origin | Number of Students | Per cent of Total | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  India | 146,480 | 21.4% | −11.5% |
| 2 |  China | 143,200 | 20.9% | −4.3% |
| 3 |  Pakistan | 48,355 | 7.1% | +5.8% |
| 4 |  Nigeria | 38,040 | 5.5% | −33.9% |
| 5 |  Nepal | 24,435 | 3.6% | +92.3% |
| 6 |  United States | 23,565 | 3.4% | +2.7% |
| 7 |  Hong Kong | 15,755 | 2.3% | −8.6% |
| 8 |  Malaysia | 11,800 | 1.7% | −7.5% |
| 9 |  Bangladesh | 11,530 | 1.7% | −5.9% |
| 10 |  Ireland | 9,800 | 1.4% | +1.3% |
| 11 |  Saudi Arabia | 9,735 | 1.4% | +0.6% |
| 12 |  United Arab Emirates | 8,875 | 1.3% | +5.6% |
| 13 |  Canada | 8,105 | 1.2% | +3.4% |
| 14 |  France | 7,840 | 1.1% | −9.5% |
| 15 |  Turkey | 7,370 | 1.1% | +12.5% |
| Others | 170,680 | 24.9% | N/a | |
| Total | 685,565 | 100% | −6.1% | |
The mainstream universities with the highest number of international students for 2024/25 are listed below:[7]
| Rank | Institution | EU Students | Non-EU Students | Total International Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University College London | 2,735 | 23,880 | 26,610 |
| 2 | University of Hertfordshire | 225 | 19,085 | 19,310 |
| 3 | University of Manchester | 1,055 | 17,460 | 18,515 |
| 4 | University of Edinburgh | 2,105 | 14,135 | 16,235 |
| 5 | King's College London | 2,385 | 13,305 | 15,690 |
| 6 | University of Glasgow | 1,210 | 12,670 | 13,880 |
| 7 | Coventry University | 415 | 12,885 | 13,300 |
| 8 | University of East London | 130 | 13,100 | 13,230 |
| 9 | University of Birmingham | 460 | 12,025 | 12,485 |
| 10 | University of the Arts London | 1,040 | 11,345 | 12,385 |
The mainstream universities with the highest proportion of international students for 2024/25 are listed below:[7]
| Rank | Institution | International Students | Per cent of Student Body |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London School of Economics | 8,225 | 63.5% |
| 2 | University of Hertfordshire | 19,310 | 57.5% |
| 3 | University of the Arts London | 12,385 | 54.0% |
| 4 | Imperial College London | 11,905 | 52.9% |
| 5 | University College London | 26,610 | 51.9% |
| 6 | University of East London | 13,230 | 49.5% |
| 7 | University College Birmingham | 3,180 | 47.0% |
| 8 | Roehampton University | 5,560 | 46.6% |
| 9 | University of St Andrews | 5,370 | 46.1% |
| 10 | Coventry University | 13,300 | 45.1% |
British universities received a total of 605,495 international applications in the 2023–24 application cycle. Fifteen universities received more than 10,000 applications, accounting for over half of the total (310,735). These were:[8]
| Institution | Number of international applications | Percentage of applications | Number of international acceptances | Percentage of acceptances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCL | 43,230 | 55.2% | 4,590 | 50.4% |
| Manchester | 36,990 | 40.0% | 3,630 | 36.4% |
| King's | 32,090 | 46.8% | 2,645 | 34.0% |
| Edinburgh | 29,280 | 43.1% | 2,670 | 35.4% |
| Imperial | 19,765 | 59.9% | 1,525 | 46.8% |
| Bristol | 18,580 | 29.4% | 1,460 | 19.5% |
| Leeds | 18,135 | 26.7% | 1,750 | 20.6% |
| Warwick | 17,480 | 38.8% | 1,570 | 26.0% |
| LSE | 16,530 | 58.6% | 950 | 49.0% |
| Arts London | 16,000 | 46.3% | 2,285 | 39.6% |
| Birmingham | 14,925 | 25.9% | 1,815 | 21.2% |
| Southampton | 13,685 | 31.5% | 1,115 | 21.5% |
| QMUL | 12,480 | 29.4% | 890 | 18.6% |
| Durham | 11,285 | 32.4% | 1,145 | 20.5% |
| Sheffield | 10,280 | 23.7% | 865 | 15.4% |
On 14 October 2019, theHome Office confirmed that graduates of the country's higher education institutions will be eligible for the two-year Graduate Route visa from summer 2021.[9]
In July 2020, theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy revealed that international students who complete aPhD from Summer 2021 can stay in the UK for 3 years after study to live and work with the Graduate Route visa, as opposed to 2 years forundergraduate andpostgraduate students.[10] The UK Home Office also confirmed that dependants of postgraduate international students with a Graduate Route post study work visa from 2021 will retain leave to remain and the right to work in the UK provided they were in the country with them during the international student's postgraduate studies.[11]
In May 2025, the newly-electedLabour government released its immigration white paper containing its proposals to reduce migration. Measures included reducing the term of the graduate visa to 18 months, new English language requirements for dependants of students and a new levy and tougher requirements for sponsoring institutions.[12][13] Proposals to limit the graduate route by the Home Office were spurred by concerns over the number of international students moving into the asylum system and the number entering low-paid work.[14] In 2024, around 40,000 asylum seekers had previously held a UK visa, with study visas making up about 40 per cent of this figure.[14] The paper found that the majority of asylum claims were made as their visa expiry date was approaching which suggested "some people might therefore be using the student route to make claims for humanitarian protection when circumstances in their country have not changed".[15] TheMigration Advisory Committee found that 60 per cent of people on a graduate visa earned less than £30,000 after 12 months on the scheme,[14] although its investigation also concluded that there was "no evidence" of the scheme being abused and recommended that the scheme should be kept.[16]
In 2019, the UK government's International Education Strategy set a target to recruit 600,000 international students in higher education and to increase the value of higher education exports to £35 billion by 2030.[17]
The recruitment target was met a decade earlier - in only one year. In January 2026, the newly elected Labour government released its new International Education Strategy which set to increase education exports to £40 billion by 2030, equivalent to an extra £7 billion in four years.[18][19] Unlike the 2019 strategy, this strategy did not include a target to recruit a specific number of students and instead committed to the sustainable recruitment of “high-quality international students”.[20] The new strategy identifiedtransnational education, where students study for a UK qualification outside of the country through abranch campus or online, as a focal point.[18]
In the UK government's 2026 International Education Strategy paper, education exports were worth £32.3 billion in 2022 - placing it ahead of other sectors such as automotive and food and drink.[18]
London Economics, a policy and economics consultancy, has estimated one first-year cohort of international students in 2018/19 to deliver £25.9 billion net benefit to the British economy over the course of their study.[21] They upgraded this figure to a net benefit of £37.4 billion for the 2021/22 academic year.[22]University College London's revenue from international tuition fees alone was worth over half a billion pounds – the equivalent of a third of the annual overseas earnings of the entire UK fishing industry.[23] This figure has grown about 56% in three years to £780 million in the 2024/25 academic year.[24] International students were found to make the greatest impact in the cities of Glasgow,London,Sheffield, Nottingham and Newcastle.[22]
According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency for the 2021/22 academic year, higher education institutions in the UK received tuition fees and contracts worth £9.99 billion from international students (£1.06 billion from EU students and £8.93 billion from non-EU students). International tuition fees made up the largest proportion of tuition fees income at the following mainstream universities with allancient universities of Scotland and London members of thegolden triangle featuring:[25]
| Rank | Institution | Total non-UK fees (£m) | Total tuition fees income (£m) | Non-UK fees as % of tuition fees income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Glasgow | 290,304 | 380,717 | 76.3% |
| 2 | Imperial College London | 301,355 | 423,195 | 71.2% |
| 3 | University of St Andrews | 96,539 | 137,407 | 70.3% |
| 4 | University College London | 543,844 | 778,553 | 69.9% |
| 5 | University of Edinburgh | 341,988 | 496,955 | 68.8% |
| 6 | University of Aberdeen | 61,808 | 89,923 | 68.7% |
| 7 | London School of Economics | 180,270 | 265,772 | 67.8% |
| 8 | University of the Arts London | 206,757 | 326,337 | 63.4% |
| 9 | University of Manchester | 394,981 | 638,205 | 61.9% |
| 10 | King's College London | 369,904 | 610,493 | 60.6% |
A study in 2025 by Public First and theUniversity of York found that higher education of international students contributed a gross export value of over £20 billion annually and that, due to the presence of international students, higher education was the biggest export in 26 ofthe UK's 650 parliamentary constituencies and one of the top three exports in 102 constituencies.[26][27] The direct and additional exports supported by international students made up over a quarter of all exports from seven constituencies:East Ham (home to theUniversity of East London,Streatham and Croydon North,Ilford South,City of Durham (home toDurham University),Edinburgh South (home to theUniversity of Edinburgh),Manchester Rusholme (home to theUniversity of Manchester andManchester Metropolitan University), andHendon (home toMiddlesex University London).[27]
The United Kingdom remains one of the most desirable countries for Chinese students looking to study abroad, ahead of the USA,Australia, andCanada.[28] This has led to students from mainland China making up significant proportions of international students at some universities:Southampton: 60.5%;RCA: 59.8%;Sheffield: 57.8%;York: 56.2%;Birmingham: 50.3%; andManchester: 49.9%.[29][30] In 2021/22, Southampton doubled its income from international students to £170 million in just one year.[31]
Research from the centre-right think tankOnward has estimated that the average university makes 7% of their total fee income from China-domiciled students, with 16 universities (mainlyRussell Group) receiving more than a fifth of their fee income from China-domiciled students.[32] There are concerns that universities are becoming overly reliant on international students from China for financing and increasing geopolitical shifts between China and the United Kingdom may lead to a sudden drop in recruitment.[33]Adam Habib, Director ofSOAS, has argued that the majority of universities in the United Kingdom will be severely impacted financially in this event.[34] In response, the university sector is aiming to diversify its intake and has been targeting emerging markets in India,South Asia andNigeria.[35] In 2022, for the first time, more study visas were issued to Indian nationals than Chinese nationals.[36] According to the Higher Education Policy Institute, in 2023, 84% of Chinese graduates in the United Kingdom returned to China after finishing their studies.[37]
In 2022,Suella Braverman, thenHome Secretary of the United Kingdom, wanted to curb the number of international students and in particular, the number of dependants on student visas.[38] The number of dependants accompanying international students granted visas had increased eight-fold in three years to 135,788 in 2022, with Nigerian and Indian nationals bringing the most dependants. In 2015, dependants from the two countries accounted for 11% of all dependants, at around 1,500 individuals. By 2022, this grew to over 100,000 individuals, representing about 73% of all dependants. Nigerian nationals had a main applicant to dependency ratio exceeding one – 10 times the rate for all other countries except for India.[39] In 2022/23, 60,923 dependants accompanied 59,053 Nigerian students and 38,990 dependants accompanied 139,539 Indian students.[40] In the previous year, 34,031 Nigerian students arrived in the United Kingdom with 31,898 dependant visas issued alongside them, in contrast, 114,837 Chinese students arrived in the same period with only 401 dependant visas issued alongside them.[41] Local reporting in Nigeria has credited the growth in students and dependants to the broader movement of 'Japa', a Yoruba term meaning 'to scarper' Nigeria, with no intention of returning due to the country's problem with corruption and poor governance.[42][43] Reporting from the BBC suggested that some Nigerians are willing to study for degrees they do not need in order to have a 'stepping stone' into the UK with the prospect of free education for their dependants in the UK preferable to paying for private education in Nigeria.[44][45]
Braverman faced opposition to these plans from thenChancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, then Secretary of State for Education,Gillian Keegan and then Science Minister,George Freeman who were concerned that this may damage the prospects of the country's 'science superpower' ambitions.[46] In May 2023, the Home Office announced plans to restrict the ability to bring dependants to only postgraduate courses designated as research programmes, effective from January 2024.[47] As the new restrictions came into place, exemptions were also extended to courses with government-funded scholarships.[48]
In the first quarter of 2024, the number of dependant visas issued for students fell by 80% compared to the previous year. Visas issued for international students also fell by 15%.[49] In the first five months of 2025, study visas resurged and saw a 29% increase compared to 2024, and higher than both 2023 and 2022. Family member visas remained significantly lower compared to previous years, with only 6,300 applications recorded compared to 46,700 applications in the same period of 2023. One study abroad education provider suggested that the strong demand was due to "global politics" as Australia, Canada and the United States had enforced stricter visa rules for international students and unease over recent US policies.[50]
The Observer reported in 2023 that UK universities were spending millions of pounds on agents fees, with universities that provided data in response to freedom of information requests typically reporting fees of between £2,000 and £8,000 per student. TheUniversity of Greenwich paid more than £28.7 million to recruit almost 3,000 postgraduate and 500 undergraduate students, whileDe Montfort University paid £17.1 million to recruit almost 4,500 students.[51]
The report also highlighted that there were ethical concerns around agents, with the general secretary of the Indian National Student Association, a representative body for Indian students in the UK, saying that agents had tried to direct students onto certain courses by offering incentives, regardless of whether these were a good choice for the student. Former universities ministerJo Johnson also warned that unethical agents that falsified visa paperwork could put universities' licences at risk.[51]
In order to address ethical concerns, the UK Agent Quality Framework, administered by the British Universities International Liaison Association, was launched in 2022.[52] A formal 'universities pledge' to follow the framework was introduced in 2023 and signed initially by 28 institutions, includingBangor University,Durham University, theUniversity of East Anglia, theUniversity of Edinburgh and theUlster University.[53]
