Student visa applications plummeted by 14% in 2024

There has been a big drop in student visa applications with Home Office data revealing a 14% fall between 2023 and 2024 compared to the previous year.

This downturn follows stricter government rules aimed at curbing net migration, which tracks long-term arrivals minus departures, including overseas students.

Earlier this year, authorities tightened rules surrounding family visas for students, barring most from bringing relatives into the UK.

The government's figures show student family visa applications dropped by 85% from 2023 to 2024 as a result.

Fewer international students

Historically, sponsored study visa approvals hovered around 200,000 annually from 2011 to 2016, before climbing to 268,674 in 2019.

A surge in numbers followed the Covid-19 downturn, peaking at 498,068 in the year ending June 2023, though numbers have since tapered to 393,125 in 2024.

London, which has the UK's densest cluster of higher education establishments, faces potential economic fallout, London Higher says.

The education body warns that fewer international students could strain university budgets and dent the capital's financial health.

It estimates that international students pump £9.6 billion into London's economy.

Subsidise world-leading research

London Higher's chief executive, Dr Diana Beech, told BBC News: "International student fees are a core part of the cross-subsidy towards our world-leading research sector and towards courses that are maybe less popular with home students."

The Home Office notes that the 393,125 sponsored study visas granted to primary applicants is still 46% higher than before the pandemic.

The Home Office data also reveals a shifting demographic landscape and between 2019 and 2023, Indian and Nigerian nationals fuelled much of the growth in student arrivals.

Yet, recent years show a reversal: Indian visas fell 36% from 2022 to 2024, while Nigerian figures dropped 68% over the same timeframe.

Indian students, who led approvals from late 2022 to mid-2024, have now slipped behind Chinese nationals, reclaiming a position held from 2018 to 2022.

In 2024, Chinese applicants secured 102,942 visas - or 26% of the total - with 59% pursuing a master’s qualification.

Indian nationals, comprising 23%, saw 80% of their cohort targeting master’s-level studies.

Master’s programmes have dominated

The figures also show that master’s programmes have dominated recent trends, accounting for 65% of study visas over the past four years.

Approvals for these courses soared 150% from 2020 to 2022, reaching 314,911, before declining 27% to 231,070 in 2024.

Bachelor’s degrees, with 102,720 visas (27%), held steady, while doctoral and other course levels comprised 12%.

The dependant ratio also shifted: in 2024, there was roughly one dependant per 20 main applicants, down from six per 20 in mid-2023.

Market is cooling

Simon Thompson, the managing director of Accommodation for Students, said: "For student landlords relying on the steady influx of international students to fill their properties, the 14% drop in student visa applications in 2023/24 signals a looming challenge.

"And with family visa approvals crashing by 85% and overall visa numbers sliding to 393,125, the once-booming market appears to be cooling fast, but numbers are still higher than pre-Covid."

He added: "London, a hotspot for higher education, faces an economic squeeze that could ripple out to rental demand, leaving landlords focussed on this sector grappling with vacancies and tighter margins."