The latest Home Office figures show applications from sponsored study visa main applicants fell by 20% in the year ending October 2026, to 349,900.
Applications from student dependants also dropped sharply, falling 32% year-on-year to 15,400.
Dependant applications are now 89% below levels recorded in the year ending December 2023, before restrictions preventing most international students from bringing family members came into force in January 2024.
Responding to the figures, Russell Group policy manager Zaid Kadhum warned that the international student market remained under pressure.
“While Russell Group universities continue to attract large numbers of talented students from around the world, these figures suggest the volatility we’ve seen in the international student market shows no sign of slowing.
Changes in application numbers haven’t happened overnight, and the drops we’ve seen are in part the result of successive government policies over a number of years.
Zaid Kadhum, Russell Group
“Changes in application numbers haven’t happened overnight, and the drops we’ve seen are in part the result of successive government policies over a number of years.
“Turning this round is vital for growth, and plans to return to a 2-year graduate route visa for universities that are highly compliant with immigration rules are a really positive first step,” he continued.
In last month’s Autumn Budget, the government announced plans to restore the two-year Graduate Route for international students graduating from “high-compliance” universities with strong labour market outcomes, reversing a planned cut to 18 months from January 2027 for eligible graduates.
The detailed eligibility criteria have not yet been finalised, The PIE understands, with the Home Office and Department for Education set to work together on the design of the policy. Further details are expected to be announced in due course.
Kadhum also said that ministers “have an opportunity to double down and drop the proposed international student levy which would be a tax on one of the UK’s most important export industries.”
The warning comes as universities face the introduction of a £925-per-international-student levy from August 2028.
