UK study visa clampdown hits foreign students, including Indians, as universities withdraw offers

Under the Home Office rules, education institutions where more than 5 per cent of prospective international students given offers subsequently have their visa applications rejected face the risk of being banned from recruiting them.

This tightening of the previous 10 per cent threshold is aimed at what the UK government believes is the abuse of the student visa route by certain nationalities, led by Pakistanis and Nigerians.

While acknowledging the need to maintain confidence in the immigration system, he stressed that “visa processing has become markedly less predictable”.

The Financial Times said its analysis of Home Office data showed that in the first half of this year, 10.5 per cent of study visa applications to the UK ended up being withdrawn, up from 2.3 per cent in the same period last year and 0.4 per cent in 2023.

Around 40.9 per cent of prospective students from Pakistan had visa applications withdrawn in the first six months of this year, up from 3 per cent in the same period last year.

Further down the list was 22.7 per cent of study visa applications from Nigeria being withdrawn in the first half of this year, up from 4.5 per cent in the first half of 2025. Bangladesh’s proportion of withdrawn applications rose from 7.1 per cent to 23.5 per cent and India’s from 1.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of University of Sunderland, told the newspaper: “The recent and unexpected spike in visa refusals has prompted pre-emptive action in several universities.

“This has involved pulling back from international markets where a tougher approach is being taken to visa applications.”

The newspaper also referenced figures in the higher education sector to flag that around 15 universities are thought to have suspended recruitment from Pakistan entirely this year.

Professor Steven McGuire, deputy vice-chancellor of University of East Anglia, said the policy’s effect may be that UK universities “double down” on China and India where refusal rates are lower.

The Home Office said that while international students “make a positive contribution” to Britain, “this must not be at the expense of recruiting responsibly, in turn protecting the integrity of our immigration system”, offering universities “support where needed to improve recruitment practices”.