UK universities withdraw admissions to students from three major countries

• Several UK universities paused sponsorship or tightened screening for applicants from Nigeria, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
• The Home Office cut the maximum visa refusal rate universities can record from 10% to 5% from June 2026
• Pakistan recorded the highest study visa withdrawal rate at 40.9%, with Nigeria and Bangladesh also flagged as high-risk markets

Several UK universities have begun withdrawing admission offers and halting recruitment from Nigeria, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as tighter Home Office compliance rules threaten to strip institutions of their international student sponsorship licences.

The crackdown follows a significant policy change that took effect on 1 June 2026. Under the updated Basic Compliance Assessment framework, universities sponsoring foreign students now face a maximum visa refusal rate of just 5%, down from the previous 10% threshold. Institutions that breach this limit risk losing their licence to recruit international students altogether.

Why visa withdrawal rates are climbing

According to media reports, Home Office data reveals a dramatic rise in UK study visa application withdrawals during the first half of 2026. The overall withdrawal rate reached 10.5%, compared to 2.3% in the same period in 2025 and just 0.4% in 2023.

Pakistan recorded the highest withdrawal rate at 40.9%. Bangladesh followed at 23.5%, with Nigeria at 22.7% and India at 5.2%. The government attributed the policy tightening to concerns that the student visa route was being used as a gateway to illegal employment or asylum applications.

Which universities are affected

To avoid triggering the new 5% threshold, universities including Oxford Brookes, Sunderland, Chester, Wolverhampton, East London, Coventry, Hertfordshire, Glasgow Caledonian, and BPP University have either paused sponsorship or introduced stricter verification processes for applicants from the affected countries.

As reported, university leaders acknowledged the decisions were pre-emptive, taken to protect their sponsorship privileges before the Home Office could step in.

The financial stakes are significant. International student tuition fees generated £12.4 billion in 2024/25, making up 23% of total university income in the UK. Around 48 publicly funded universities in England, roughly 40% of the sector, already recorded financial deficits that same year. Education groups have warned that a sustained drop in overseas enrolment could accelerate job cuts, course cancellations, and even campus closures across the country.

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Source: Briefly News

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