UK Universities Report Decline in International Student Numbers After Ban on Dependents

Following UK government's implementation of the new regulation on January 1, 2024, banning international students from bringing their family members to the country, university representatives have expressed their concerns. They say such restrictions pose a threat to the country’s economy.

Universities UK (UUK), the organization representing 142 country's universities, has revealed a decline in demand among international students, especially in the number of those enrolling in postgraduate courses, Erudera.com reports.

According to the new policy, only international students in postgraduate research courses or with government-funded scholarships are exempt from these restrictions. These rules were first presented in May last year.

“From 1 January 2024, tough government action means most international students can now no longer bring family members to the UK,” the government said in a January 2 statement.

A survey conducted by UUK this February, which included a total of 73 UK universities, revealed that the country is facing a decline in the number of international students, which reached its peak last year. According to a report by the Telegraph, the Centre for Migration Control (CMC) found UK universities hosted a record 787,000 international students in 2022/2023

Based on HESA’s Higher Education Student Statistics, there were 679,970 international students in the UK during the 2021/22 academic year. Of these, 120,140 were from the EU, and 559,825 were from non-EU countries.

Decline in Postgraduate Enrollments After Immigration Rule Changes

The findings from UUK show that the number of enrollments in postgraduate courses has dropped by more than 40 percent since the entry of the new rules into force.

Data from the Enroly platform show a drop of 37 percent in postgraduate students this year compared to 2022. At the same time, higher education enrollment specialists at IDP Connect found that 45 percent of prospective students would reconsider or change their study destination if the post-study work period was reduced.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of UUK, said that the UK benefits from the choice of international students to study at its universities and expressed regret over the fact that the government is contributing to the fading of the country’s success in this regard.

“Our new data shows that if they wanted to see a reduction in numbers, they have already achieved that through policy changes introduced earlier this year. If they go further, they will damage the economies of towns and cities throughout the UK, as well as many universities.”

International Students Contributed £60 Billion to UK Economy Since 2019

International students have contributed more than £60 billion to the UK’s economy since 2019, according to an analysis by UUK and London Economics.

Restrictions to student visa routes are part of the UK government’s plan to reduce net migration and protect the immigration system from abuse. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) assessment, net migration reached 672,000 between June 2022 and June 2023.

The number of visas issued to family members of international students in the UK was up from 14,839 in the year ending September 2019 to a total of 152,980 in the same period last year. In other words, that was a more than 930 percent increase.