Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
9th Jan 2025

Early data indicates international enrolment growth for UK higher education’s January 2025 intake

Short on time? Here are the highlights:
  • International student demand is once again rising for the UK after a challenging year in 2024
  • Deposits, applications, and acceptances are up in January 2025 compared with January 2024

After worrying international enrolment trends in 2024, UK universities look poised for a better year beginning with the January 2025 intake. That outlook is informed by some advance data from service providers such as the student recruitment platform Enroly and enrolment services specialist UniQuest.

According to reports in Times Higher Education, international student deposits made through Enroly for the January 2025 intake are 27% higher than last year, and issuances of acceptance letters are up 14%. This is uplifting news especially since student visa applications in the first three quarters of 2024 were down 16% compared with the previous year.

Separate data from UniQuest also confirms international students’ renewed interest in the UK. UniQuest reviewed more than 40,000 applications for the January 2025 intake and found that firm acceptances (i.e., students who have said a definite yes to their offers) are up by 31% over 2024. Indian acceptances grew by 11%, and Pakistani acceptances jumped by 91%.

UK gained at the end of a year where Canada and Australia struggled

A Fall 2024 ApplyBoard pulse survey conducted among international student counsellors in 40 countries offered an early indication of a rebound. In that survey, the UK emerged as the second most attractive destination after the US, ahead of Australia and Canada. Australia and Canada were in the news all year for their respective governments’ efforts to curb international student numbers.

ApplyBoard notes: “With student interest towards destinations like Canada and Australia falling, UK institutions—and specifically UK universities—have an opportunity to reverse year-over-year declines and make 2025 a year of growth.”

Speaking to The Guardian in September 2024, Professor Max Lu, vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey, said that UK universities were greatly benefitting from the welcoming tone set by education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Less than a month into her new role in the Labour government, Ms Phillipson delivered a speech in which she declared that international students were valuable contributors to the UK. Prof Su said:

“I’ve had feedback from our agents, in China, India and south and south-east Asian markets. All the agents’ feedback has been very positive, and it’s been very well received.

I got a briefing from my director of admissions saying that international postgraduate conversion rates have gone up. I can pay a tribute to our secretary of state, Bridget Phillipson, because her message was widely publicised internationally, that international students are welcome, they contribute not only economically but also culturally and to diversity and everything else.”

Some source regions are up, some are down

According to the Enroly data, the rebound is being driven by students from East Africa (84% more deposits), West Africa (+27%), and South Asia (31%). Strong growth markets include Kenya, Nigeria, and Nepal. Deposits were down by over 30%, however, from students in the Middle East and East Asia.

In January 2024, the former Sunak government terminated international students’ ability to bring dependants if students are pursuing master’s-taught courses. It is likely no coincidence that in contrast to other types of programmes, deposits for master’s-taught courses are off slightly compared with last year. Otherwise, deposits were up 15% for postgraduate research programmes (which do allow dependants), and 7% for undergraduate programmes (which have never been tied to the ability to bring dependants).

For additional background, please see:

Most Recent

  • US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 Read More
  • How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training Read More
  • Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) twice-yearly snapshot surveys are always required reading for international educators. That is...
Read more
How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training This article was originally published in the ICEF Academy Knowledge Hub and is reproduced here with permission. International...
Read more
Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees In a 3 July 2025 letter to the Dutch parliament, Education Minister Eppo Bruins explained that the government...
Read more
New Zealand announces strong foreign enrolment growth along with a new international education strategy Following a post-pandemic surge in 2023, Education New Zealand (ENZ) announced this week that the country’s international student...
Read more
The surging demand for skills training in a rapidly changing global economy With more than 175 million users, Coursera is the largest online learning platform in the world. It currently...
Read more
US issues corrected student visa data showing growth for 2024 while current trends point to an enrolment decline for 2025/26 In April 2025, we reported that foreign enrolments in the US had declined by -11% between March 2024...
Read more
Survey finds US institutions expanding agency engagement and focusing on new student markets AIRC (The Association of International Enrollment Management) and BONARD have just released a second edition of the State...
Read more
Canada’s language sector buffeted by policy changes in 2024 Amid reports of mounting job losses and programme cuts across Canadian education, the country’s language education providers are...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links