Increase in student visa applications for the UK

The Home Office application data shows that there were 434,600 applicants in the year ending September 2025, up from 406,500 in the year ending September 2024.

In the single month of September 2025 there were 79,500 study permit applications from main applicants, a 10.4 per cent rise compared with 72,000 in September 2024.

In recent months there has also been a slight recovery in applications from dependents of students. At the beginning of 2024, taught postgraduate students were banned from bringing family members to the UK, leading to a large decrease in dependent applications during the remainder of 2024.

Big Ben, Westminster Bridge and red double decker bus in London, England, United Kingdom

However, in the June-to-September 2025 four-month period there were 11,400 student dependent applications, up by 40.7 per cent compared with 8,100 in the June-to-September 2024 period.

A recent survey of students by IDP Education showed that the percentage of prospective students indicating the UK as a first-choice preference increased slightly, and analysis of a decline in searches for master’s program in the USA on the Studyportals higher education listings platform indicated the UK as one of the main beneficiaries, with a 16 per cent increase in pageviews so far this year.

However, it remains to be seen whether two recent policy announcements by the UK government will impact on student demand.

The Graduate Route of post-study work rights will be reduced from the current entitlement of two years to 18 months from January 2027, while the government has confirmed that a levy will be applied to international student fee income for universities in England.