Nicholas Cuthbert and Dave Amor

More than 70% of study visa refusals for UK universities are coming from just seven countries – India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ghana and Sri Lanka. The PIE looks at which universities are the most reliant on high-risk markets.

While no formal two-tier system exists in UK higher education, predictive analysis from The PIE shows that the Russell Group may be the only mission group to achieve "green" levels of visa refusals according to the new Basic Compliance Assessment.

The PIE's analysis shows that the UK issued more new study visas in 2025 than any other country in the world, despite a spike in visa refusals in Q4.

The UK collected more than £9.3 million in visa fees over the last 12 months from students who were ultimately refused entry. The PIE investigates how the government is generating more income from visa refusals since 2012, despite falling application levels.