UK: International student numbers fall for second year, especially in postgraduate programmes

A sharp year-over-year decline in non-EU students enrolling in UK universities in 2024/25 (-5%) is the main contributor to a -6% year-over-year drop in overall international student enrolments (non-EU and EU) in the UK.

The 2024/25 academic year was the second consecutive year in which overall foreign enrolments fell in the UK.

In total, UK universities enrolled 685,565 international students, the vast majority of whom came from outside the EU (621,970). A smaller proportion came from the EU (63,500, down -15.7% from the previous year).

All in all, 24% of all students in UK higher education are from other countries.

The data is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Less demand from the EU

The number of new non-EU students (aka “entrants”) in the UK fell by -5.5% and the number of EU entrants declined by -4.1% in 2024/25.

Each decline tells a story of how government policies affect international student demand. Policies attached to the Brexit in 2020 have dampened demand from the EU for five years, while policies including the “Dependants Ban” enacted in 2024 have had more of a two-year effect on non-EU demand.

For example, if we look specifically at the HESA data on “non-entrants” (i.e., students who did not enrol for the first time in 2024/25), there was a -22.5% decline in EU students in 2024/25. This is a sharper decline than for EU “entrants” (-4%) and overall EU enrolments (-16%). The distinction indicates that overall EU enrolments have been falling for years – in contrast to the two-year decline we see for EU enrolments prompted by more recent policies.

Though EU students compose a much smaller proportion of the overall student population in UK universities (2%) than non-EU students (22%), it is notable that there demonstrably less demand from Europe for study in the UK than in the past. Since Brexit, EU students have paid the same tuition fees as other international students, a change that precipitated the fall in demand. HESA notes: “Nine of the top 10 EU countries have declined since 2020/21.” The exception is Ireland.

Non-EU decline especially pronounced at the taught postgraduate level

At the postgraduate level, there was an overall -3% decrease in new international students relative to 2023/24 (-10% for non-EU students, -8% for EU students).

The decline was mostly prompted by falling non-EU demand for postgraduate “taught” programmes. As of 2024, postgraduate taught students from abroad have not been permitted to bring their families with them to the UK – a policy informally known as the “Dependants Ban.” By contrast, international students can bring their family with them if they enrol in postgraduate “research” programmes. (For a quick understanding of the difference between “taught” and “research” programmes, please see our earlier coverage of this issue.

The Dependants’ Ban is much more influential on non-EU enrolments than EU enrolments because many of the UK’s top non-EU markets have the students who are most likely to want to bring their families with them (and to immigrate rather than just study).

Here, HESA data highlights the effect of this policy distinction between “taught” and “research” programmes and the differing motivations among EU versus non-EU students. Remembering that “research” postgraduate programmes do not fall under the Dependants Ban and thus allow students to bring their dependants with them:

• EU enrolments in research programmes decreased y-o-y by -12%, continuing a five-year pattern of decline for this level and category of study.
• Non-EU enrolments in research programmes increased y-o-y by +10.5%, a notable jump when you look at the chart below showing five-year trends. Interestingly, again speaking of non-EU enrolments, this increase coincides with almost the same rate of decrease for “taught” postgraduate programmes (-10%).

As we reported in December 2025, the government is aware of the spike in demand from several non-EU students for research-oriented programmes and is considering whether it will expand the Dependants Ban to include this category of programme.

What’s happening in terms of top non-EU markets?

HESA reports:

"Entrant numbers from India (-12%), China (-5%), and Nigeria (-33%) all fell for the second year in a row, while numbers from Pakistan increased by 5%. Nepal entered the top five countries of origin for non-EU entrants to UK higher education, overtaking the United States, following changes to visa regulations in Australia. 17,385 Nepalese students started UK HE courses in 2024/25, more than ten times the 1,165 students who entered in 2020/21.”

The top 10 non-EU markets for the UK based on 2024/25 enrolment data are:

• India
• China
• Pakistan
• Nigeria
• Nepal
• US
• Hong Kong
• Malaysia
• Bangladesh
• Saudi Arabia

Transnational education (TNE)

The UK’s new International Education Strategy emphasises the role TNE will play in boosting education export earnings to the target of £40 billion per year by 2030. The HESA data show that the overseas delivery of UK programmes is may soon eclipse the delivery of onshore programmes to international students.

“The number of transnational education students studying wholly overseas for UK qualifications rose by 8% in 2024/25 to 669,950, coming close to the number of international students studying in the UK (685,565). The total number of TNE students has risen by 37% since 2020/21 and includes distance learners, students attending overseas campuses of UK providers, and students studying for UK qualifications at foreign universities.”

HESA data confirms industry-reported trends in 2025

In a November 2025 survey conducted by the British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA), 42 of 69 responding universities (61%) reported a decrease in postgraduate commencements for the academic year beginning September 2025.

The respondents indicated that foreign enrolments were down -6% year-over-year.

This follows declines revealed in BUILA's fall 2024 survey, in which 80% of responding institutions reporting falling international postgraduate numbers and as well as -20% decrease across levels.

For additional background, please see:

• “UK: Rules changes could be coming for master of research programmes”
• “UK’s new international education strategy seeks to build education exports to £40 billion by 2030”
• “Foreign enrolments in UK higher education dipped again in fall 2025”