Universities enrol hundreds more MRes students despite warnings

UK universities have enrolled hundreds more students on master’s by research (MRes) courses, new figures reveal, amid concern that that some institutions are exploiting loopholes in immigration rules.

Data obtained by freedom of information requests by Times Higher Education reveal that the University of Greater Manchester, which was until recently known as the University of Bolton, grew international enrolment on its MRes courses to 1,748 students in 2025-26, up from 24 students four years ago.

The figure jumped dramatically from 82 students in 2023-24 to 914 in 2024-25, coinciding with a rule change that meant international students could no longer bring their families with them to the UK unless they were enrolled on certain postgraduate research courses. 

The university had 2,040 international students in total in 2023-24, meaning MRes enrolees made up 45 per cent of its total international cohort that year.

It comes as recent data from Ucas suggest it is struggling to recruit students at lower levels of study – the university accepted 1,285 undergraduates in 2025, down 19 per cent on the previous year.  

York St John University also saw significant growth, rising from one MRes student in 2023-24 to 387 in 2025-26. 

Students who enrolled in the January 2026 intake are not included in the figures from either institution. 

Neither the University of Greater Manchester nor York St John University replied to a request for comment. 

The Home Office is understood to be considering changes to the immigration rules around master’s research courses as a result of a small number of higher education institutions expanding these programmes. 

“This is exactly the kind of behaviour the Home Office interprets as exploitation of a loophole,” said Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George’s, University of London.

She said that if universities were seen to be using research degrees to continue to attract international students who want to bring family members to the UK, without the required emphasis on research training or progression to a PhD, “then that places the entire sector in a very difficult position”. 

The rapid expansion of programmes also raises questions about quality and oversight, Beech added. 

“These courses are meant to be rigorous research degrees, yet we are seeing numbers grow at a pace that makes it very hard for institutions to provide adequate supervisory support. 

“If universities take on far more students than they can properly supervise, then the quality of the research experience suffers – and that is not in the interests of students, staff or the reputation of the sector.”

The Office for Students opened an investigation into the University of Greater Manchester in 2025, following allegations of financial misconduct at the institution. The institution’s vice-chancellor was suspended in May 2024 and has since been replaced with an interim leader.

Of the 132 institutions contacted, 11 refused to respond and 26 withheld the data or only provided partial data. Twenty-seven said they do not have any international students enrolled on MRes courses.

A total of 68 institutions confirmed they run MRes courses with international students enrolled and provided full data. Collectively they had about 4,530 students on these types of courses in 2025-26, a 129 per cent rise on the 1,976 enrolled in 2022-23. The numbers are approximate as some universities rounded up figures to protect privacy where enrolments were very low.

Excluding Greater Manchester, numbers for the rest of the sector increased by 42 per cent from about 1,925 in 2022-23 to 2,782 in 2025-26.

A total of 39 institutions (57 per cent) have expanded the number of international students enrolled on these courses since 2022, but the size of these cohorts remains small overall, with the majority having under 50 international enrolees.

Student numbers at leading research universities were way below those recorded at Greater Manchester, such as the University of Cambridge (176 in 2025-26), Imperial College London (533) and UCL (213).

“These concerning revelations show that where universities have become over-dependent on international student migration, the incentives to exploit loopholes – such as the previously stable postgraduate research route – are simply too great,” said Zachary Marsh, research fellow at Policy Exchange. 

“Instead of playing whack-a-mole with institutions abusing this route, the government should take decisive action and scrap the graduate route and the right to bring dependants for all master’s-level research courses.”

Other universities that expanded their MRes enrolments included the University of Worcester, which grew from one in 2022-23 to 110 this academic year. 

The University of East Anglia grew from five students to 67 over the same time period, while the University of Lincoln grew from eight to 53. Brunel University of London, expanded from 11 students in 2024-25 to 56 in the current academic year.

Universities UK has previously told its members to stop growing their MRes numbers further.

However, Beech said the surge signals “a worrying lack of coordination within the sector”. 

“At present, the system relies heavily on institutional self‑restraint, but the financial pressures on universities are uneven, and those under greatest strain are sadly more likely to take risks,” she said.

“That makes the whole system vulnerable. Unless universities collectively enforce standards – be it light-touch through UUK or more heavy-handedly through the Office for Students – then the Home Office will inevitably step in. And when that happens, the response is unlikely to be sympathetic.”

A spokesperson from the University of Worcester said there has been “an explosion of demand from international students” to study MRes courses in the past two years.

“The University of Worcester has responded to this very selectively, seeking only to admit excellent students with proper, well-thought-out research proposals, whom we have the capacity to supervise to very high standards.”

They added that the institution had received 2,854 MRes applicants for the second semester of 2026, of whom 52 had been accepted. “This means just one in every 55 applicants has actually been accepted,” they said.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com