UK student visa applications fell sharply in September

Visa applications to study in the UK fell by 10.3 per cent for the key recruitment month of September, new Home Office figures show.

Immigration data released on 8 October show the number of main visa applicants under the sponsored study route fell to 71,600 in September, down from 79,800 last year, a fall of 8,200 applicants, and the lowest total for that month for five years.

That drop follows an even sharper decline in visa applications in August – the busiest month for visa applications – when only 99,500 students applied, down from 120,300 in August 2025 and 147,200 in August 2023.

Overall visa applications in the crucial three-month July-to-September recruitment period are down by 24.7 per cent on 2022 levels, with 230,300 students applying in this window this year compared with 305,800 five years earlier.

Total student visa applications in the same three-month window stood slightly higher at 312,700 in 2023.

The latest evidence for a slump in study visas comes amid growing concerns over higher-than-expected refusal rates from key overseas markets including Pakistan, Nigeria and India, which some vice-chancellors fear will cause their institutions to breach tighter compliance rules introduced in June.

Those universities with a visa refusal rate higher than 5 per cent risk losing their licence to sponsor foreign students if they repeatedly breach the new threshold, which was previously 10 per cent.

While it is not yet known where the biggest falls in student applications have occurred, recent data for the year up to June 2026 show a massive drop in approved student visas for certain countries.

For instance, the number of Pakistani student visas granted in the year up to June 2026 was only 19,600, down by nearly half from 37,000 in the prior 12 months.

Falling overseas enrolments are also likely to worsen the financial pressures at many UK universities that rely on overseas fee income to cover the deficit on teaching domestic students, which is estimated at about £3,000 a year per undergraduate.

Other activities such as research also run at a considerable loss, with more than half of institutions expected to declare financial deficits when their annual accounts are revealed later this year.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com