Glimmer of hope for UK recruitment as applications rise

• Current data shows UK higher education institutions experience a growing positive trend because international student applications have gone up significantly. The Home Office data shows that during January 2025 sponsored study visa applications reached 28,700 mark an increase of 12.5% compared to the 25,500 applications received in January 2024. 

• The growing number of international student applications remains steady even though the new January 2024 policies barred most educational visitors from bringing family dependents unless they are studying for postgraduate research or coming through government scholarships. The number of dependent visa applications has dropped by 32.4% from 3,400 to 2,300 applications during January between 2024 and 2025. 

• According to student engagement and conversion specialist UniQuest the number of firm acceptances from international students increased by 31% during January 2025 compared to the previous year. 

• The application distribution shows considerable variation between different universities in the current month. Top universities received 4.3% added applications yet institutions ranked beneath these institutions faced a 3.1% application decrease. The decline of foreign student applications exists particularly at smaller universities as international students choose institutions with stronger rankings. 

• Total international student applications have grown during the pandemic which offers positively trending data to UK universities about their potential international recruitment success.