New data reveal a drop of 17% in international students. The UK university sector is preparing for redundancies, cuts and contraction.
The Office for National Statistics has released new figures showing that net migration dropped by 50%, to 431,000 between December 2024 and December 2025. This decline was largely due to the tighter visa regulations introduced in December of 2023. A key policy change, restricting the dependants of foreign students, has led to a 86% (105,000), drop in the number of study-related dependents. This is contributing to fewer overseas students choosing the UK for their studies.
Dr Joe Marshall (CEO of the non-profit National Centre for Universities and Business) stressed the importance that overseas students have for the sector. He said that international students are crucial to the UK’s Higher Education System – they are important to its global status and connectivity as well as to its long-term health. They enable investment in cutting edge research, world class facilities, and development of highly skilled workers. Many students leave the UK after their studies, contributing less to long term migration, but they provide substantial short and medium-term economic benefits to regions, institutions and wider society.
Marshall said that the sharp drop in international student enrollment was not only a risk to the financial sustainability of the sector, but also posed an immediate threat to UK’s economic prospects.
“Universities are crucial to economic growth and regional development. They also play a major role in the generation of talent.” “They are major drivers of investment. Businesses consistently cite the UK’s leading universities as one of the main reasons for choosing to invest in this country,” Marshall added.
Recent government policy proposals, such as the introduction of a potential international student levy could further strain university finances. This additional financial strain is already affecting the ability of universities in the UK to function at full capacity.
Marshall said that the current trajectory “threatens to undermine one of our strongest assets: Our standing as a leader in global knowledge and innovation.”
In March, University and College Union alerted to the possibility that up to 10,000 jobs in higher education could be lost. UCU stated that 5,361 jobs were under threat, and claimed that thousands of workers will also lose their job during the current academic year due to a funding shortfall.
UCU claims that the sector revealed plans to cut PS238 Million.
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