The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s (HESA) data drop revealed there were a total of 685,565 international students in the UK in 2024/25, marking a 6% decline on 2023/24 numbers and enrolments from key markets falling for the second year in a row.
The number of students from India – although still the biggest sending country – were down 12% year-on-year, down 5% from China and down a third from Nigeria amid a 10% year-on-year dip in international master’s degree and taught postgraduate degree entrants.
It follows a curb on international students’ ability to bring their dependants into the country, with stricter compliance rules and an upcoming levy on international fees set to hit enrolments further, after 2022/23’s post-pandemic record of 758,855 international students.
In contrast, enrolments of postgraduate research students rose by 11% year-on-year, reflecting a growing interest in MRes programs, which are not subject to the same ban on dependant visas.
Meanwhile, the popularity of UK education abroad is soaring, as the number of students studying on UK TNE programs rose 8% to hit 669,950 – almost the same number of international students studying in the UK.
It comes amid a TNE boom, with the UK charting a course towards more overseas partnerships as part of the revamped international education strategy and a slew of British universities opening branch campuses in India. Other priority TNE markets include Indonesia and Pakistan.
Students from India and China accounted for almost half (47%) of all non-EU international students, sending 146,480 and 143,200 students respectively. They were followed by Pakistan, sending 48,335 students, and Nigeria, sending 38,040.
Nepal climbed into the top five sending countries to the UK in 2024/25, with 24,435 students. Nepalese enrolments almost doubled year-on-year, growing from 12,710 in 2023/24. It coincides with stricter visa rules in Australia – traditionally a popular market with Nepalese students.
While enrolments from European students has dropped sharply since the UK left the EU in early 2020, several countries have seen modest growth. The number of Irish students grew 2% between 2023/24 and 2024/25, while there was a 9% rise from Germany and 3% rise from Spain.
