The UK issued nearly 410,000 student visas to main applicants in 2025, up by 3% over 2024.¹ However, as we flagged back in January, applications from prospective international students began to soften in Q4 2025, meaning the macro view of the year masks that demand is trending downward.

This softened demand is likely a response to new Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) thresholds, as outlined in the . 老九品茶鈥檚 Fall 2025 Recruitment Partner Pulse Survey found that perceptions of a destination鈥檚 welcomeness was a more important priority for prospective students than ever before.² And as our 2026 Trends Report outlined, international students receiving mixed messages (whether explicitly or implicitly) about how welcome they are has coincided with volatile demand across the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� study destinations.

In a landscape of tighter BCA thresholds (including a 95% visa success rate) and muted demand, forward-looking insights allow academic institutions to better allocate their resources and support prospective students through every stage of their journey. Below, in the second of our three-part series on international student search trends on the 老九品茶 platform, discover how international students鈥� interest adapted in 2025 toward study courses in the UK with direct ties to in-demand sectors.

Visa Issuance Growth in 2025 Masks Developing Downward Trend

The UK Home Office processed 434,000 student visas from main applicants in 2025. Those applicants had an issuance rate of 94%, meaning about 410,000 main applicants were issued a student visa last year:

While main applicant student visa applications and issuances were up 3% in full-year 2025 compared to the previous year, Q4-specific data tells a different story. Only 43,000 study visa applications from main applicants were processed in Q4 2025, a year-over-year decline of 21% in that quarter.

That decline accelerated during the first two months of 2026. In January and February this year, the UK Home Office processed 24,000 main applications from prospective students, down 32% over the same months in 2025.

Grant Rates Fall in Q4 2025

The UK issued nearly 37,000 student visas to main applicants in Q4 2025. This was down 26% over issuance totals in Q4 2024. Critically, the visa success rate in Q4 2025 was only 85%. This was six percentage points below Q4 2024 levels, and far below the 95% success rate required for institutions under the new BCA thresholds.

In Q4 2025, grant rates fell year-over-year for 9 of the UK鈥檚 15 largest student populations:

Q4 historically represents a small fraction of the UK鈥檚 total annual issuances, as most student visa applicants target the primary autumn intake in Q3. In recent years, off-peak quarters have typically seen higher refusal rates than Q3, when .

Still, the 85% grant rate in Q4 2025 is a post-pandemic low. It is also considerably below Q4 2023鈥檚 previous record-low of 89%.

Of the UK鈥檚 15 largest student populations in Q4 2025, only students from China, the US, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Vietnam saw issuance success rates above the new 95% BCA threshold.

Vietnamese students had a visa issuance rate of 96% in Q4 2025, 13 percentage points higher than Q4 2024.

Search Trends by Prospective Students on 老九品茶 Platform Shows Rising Interest in Health Studies

Many international education journeys begin with the search bar. The 老九品茶 platform has helped over 1.3 million students to connect with international study opportunities since launching in 2015, and this proprietary search data helps our team to find leading indicators of changing student preferences. In turn, these findings empower academic institutions’ ongoing competitiveness, even through periods of policy uncertainty.

Here鈥檚 how student searches for UK courses have evolved across different fields between 2022 and 2025:

Health-related fields continued to see notable growth in search volumes on our platform last year.³ Nearly 15% of international students searching for a UK study course considered fields related to health in 2025, which was up two percentage points versus 2024. Additionally, the UK needs thousands of health care workers. One 2023 report proposed that England will face a sector s. And that was before visas for overseas workers in personal care fields plummeted, .

In line with the growth across this sector, we expect health sciences will become the second-most searched for field of study by 老九品茶 students in 2026. In total, STEM fields accounted for over 46% of all searches on 老九品茶鈥檚 platform for UK courses in 2025, and health-related inquiries made up a significant proportion of these searches.

Which International Student Populations Are Most Interested in UK STEM Programs?

As institutions consider how to allocate their resources under the new BCA thresholds, 老九品茶鈥檚 proprietary search data can support this task by offering an early look at which student populations are gravitating toward specific courses. This data can help institutions support student success, build student body diversity, and remain compliant with BCA requirements.

In the graphic below, we’ve illustrated field of study preference changes among some of the UK鈥檚 largest student populations between 2022 and 2025:

Health fields represent one of the clearest avenues toward high-demand careers around the globe, so it鈥檚 unsurprising that interest in these courses grew among most of the UK鈥檚 major student populations. The student populations with the largest proportion of health-related searches in 2025 were Ghana (22%), Nigeria (21%), and Nepal (15%). Students from Ghana and Saudi Arabia had the largest proportional increase in 2025 compared to 2022, as their health-related searches grew by 10 and 6 percentage points respectively.

Meanwhile, institutions looking to bolster their engineering and technology classrooms could focus on South Asia and the Middle East. In 2025, Sri Lanka (26%), Saudi Arabia (25%), and Bangladesh (21%) held the highest share of search interest in this field. Bangladeshi students also showed the largest proportional gain in engineering and technology interest compared to 2022, as their searches grew by 6 percentage points over this span. The next largest gain over this period came from students from Nigeria, whose searches increased by 2 percentage points.

And for the sciences, Saudi Arabia (24%), Bangladesh (17%), and Pakistan (16%) led the way in 2025. Compared to 2022 levels, interest grew the most among students from Saudi Arabia (+3 percentage points), Sri Lanka (+3), and Bangladesh (+2).

How UK Institutions Can Leverage Data for Strategic Student Recruitment in 2026

Adapting to the UK’s new BCA thresholds requires a targeted approach to international student recruitment. By tracking which applicant populations are gravitating toward specific disciplines, universities can strategically allocate their resources. The updated BCA thresholds make it essential to guide prospective students toward courses within high demand fields like health and engineering. Institutions that align their outreach with these labour market realities equip applicants with a distinct advantage from the start of their educational journey.

Delivering that advantage in a lower-volume environment depends on continuous visibility into changing global preferences. The 老九品茶 platform provides UK academic institutions with the underlying search data required to identify these shifts as they happen.

Directing focus toward these in-demand academic pathways allows universities to safeguard their BCA compliance while helping more international students successfully begin their studies in the UK. Connect with our Commercial Partnerships Team to evaluate your current course demand and refine your outreach strategy. And look out for the final installment of our search trends series coming soon.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. All visa data courtesy of the .

2. In the Fall 2025 survey, nearly 50% of respondents indicated a destination’s welcomeness was a priority for prospective students when choosing a study destination, compared to just 25% in the Spring 2025 survey.

3. On our platform, the 鈥渉ealth鈥� category includes health sciences, medicine, nursing, paramedic, and kinesiology fields of study.

The post These Fields of Study in the UK Are Attracting International Students, Though Visa Data Suggests Softened Demand for 2026 appeared first on 老九品茶.

For some international graduates, their study destination becomes their new home. Studying abroad can be a powerful experience, and students build strong friendships and vital skills over their time on campus. After graduating, some pursue permanent residency (PR) to deepen those ties, while also bringing their valuable knowledge to the Canadian workforce. Below, we’ll compare the PR approval rates for past study permit holders¹ and applicants who have never held a Canadian study permit. We’ll also look at how PR approvals for past international students have evolved across Canada between 2018 and 2025.

Note: To apply for PR, potential applicants must receive an invitation or nomination from the government (ITA). To apply via Express Entry, these individuals must meet or exceed a set score and then receive an invitation. Other PR streams have different criteria, but all will issue invitations or nominations to eligible applicants in their pool. The data in this article refers only to applicants who received an invitation or nomination to apply for PR.

Canadian PR Approval Rates for International Graduates Consistently Higher than Non-Graduates

The difference between the PR approval rate for past study permit holders and non-study permit holders was at its widest in recent history (except during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020):²

In 2025, 94% of permanent residency applicants who had previously held a study permit or study permit extension were approved. This was nine percentage points higher than the PR acceptance rate of non-study permit or extension holders.

The PR approval rate also dipped less year-over-year (YOY) for former students in 2025. It dropped three percentage points compared to 2024, while falling six percentage points for applicants who had never held a study permit or permit extension. As the figure above shows, PR approval rates were also generally more stable for applicants who had previously held a study permit.

India Remained Top Incoming Population for PR Approval Among Past Study Permit or Extension Holders in 2025

Canada-wide, the total number of PR approvals for past study permit holders dropped 17% in 2025 versus 2024. This change was influenced in part by shifts among the largest incoming demographics. Out of the 10 international graduate populations who received the highest number of PR approvals, half received fewer approvals in 2025 compared to the previous year.

Applicants from India who had previously held a study permit or study permit extension received the largest number of Canadian PR approvals out of any nationality of past study permit holders in 2025:

While past study permit holders from India have received the most PR approvals out of any incoming population since 2018, the total number of PR applications which this demographic submitted dipped below 50,000 last year. This change marked a return to application levels last seen in 2022 for past study permit holders from India.

Out of that cohort, nearly 41,000 PR applications were approved, which was 26% less than in 2024. A lower PR approval rate for this subset of Indian applicants, dipping from 98% in 2024 to 94% in 2025, contributed to the lower approval count. However, the larger shift came from the smaller number of applications.

That said, a lower PR approval rate wasn’t unique to India. Among past study permit or extension holders, 8 out of the 10 largest populations had lower approval rates than in 2024.听

PR Approvals Rise for Past Study Permit Holders Among Many Francophone Populations

In addition to Colombia (which is not a Francophone country), France and Morocco were the outliers in 2025, with PR approval rates for past study permit holders which remained stable. Notably, however, France and Morocco’s overall number of approvals climbed significantly, up 40% and 80% YOY respectively. Other Francophone populations like Algeria saw their total approvals for past study permit holders improve too, rising 79% over 2024 levels.听

While upward trends weren’t unanimous among Francophone countries, as total approvals decreased by 16% YOY for past study permit holders from Tunisia, approvals for past international students from both Cameroon (+80% YOY) and C么te d’Ivoire (+79%) climbed.

Comparing PR Approval Rates Across Canada for International Graduates and Non-Graduates听

Below, we’ll look at each province’s proportion of PR approvals for past study permit holders between 2018 and 2025.

Note: Generally, PR applicants must receive an invitation or nomination to apply, whether through or a regional program like the or the . Thus, references to 鈥渇ormer study permit holders鈥� below do not refer to all past international students. It only includes those who have submitted their profile for consideration, and have then received invitations to apply for PR.听

Across Canada, the percentage of PR approvals earned by past study permit holders rose from the mid-teens in the late 2010s, and peaked in 2021 at above 40% as COVID-19 limited other PR applicants’ ability to come to Canada. Subsequently, this proportion dipped as mobility resumed, hovering in the high 20s and low 30s through the early 2020s. Last year, applicants who previously held a Canadian study permit received 26% of all PR approvals. However, this population is distributed unevenly:

British Columbia

Last year, previous study permit or extension holders received 33% of all PR approvals in BC, a proportion which was up by four percentage points year-over-year, even though the total number of PR approvals this demographic received dipped by 18% over the same timeframe. Despite the downturn in overall approvals, over 15,000 former students were approved for PR in 2025. This change meant that last year, BC had the third-most PR approvals for former students, and ceded its former rank of second-most to Quebec.

Prairie Provinces

Over the past few years, three different patterns have emerged across the prairie provinces: a stable cohort of past study permit-holder PR approvals in Alberta, growth of the same cohort in Saskatchewan, and decline in Manitoba. While many factors influence PR approvals, , compared to Saskatchewan’s one, which may help Manitoba attract more diverse PR applicants:

However, it’s important to look at the total number of approvals this demographic received as well. Year-over-year, total PR approvals to past study permit holders decreased across all three of these provinces in 2025. While the proportion of total PR approvals to this cohort increased YOY in Saskatchewan, past international students’ total number of PR approvals decreased by over 2,000.

Ontario

While the proportion of PR approvals for past study permit holders grew in 2025 by three percentage points, as overall PR numbers dropped, this represented a smaller total number of new Canadians. Over 10,000 fewer past study permit or extension holders who listed Ontario as their province of destination were approved for PR in 2025 than 2024, representing a decline of 19%.听

Despite this recent dip, however, past study permit holders’ proportion of total PR approvals in Ontario has hovered in the mid-20s since 2023鈥攁 proportion which has nearly doubled since the late 2010s.

Quebec

Last year, past study permit holders intending to settle in Quebec received the highest proportion of PR approvals (26%) within the province than at any point over the last eight years. Changes to Quebecois PR pathways in 2024 and 2025 likely influenced this shift. In 2024, the Quebec government (PEQ), a popular PR pathway. Eligible applicants could then instead pursue PR through the Skilled Worker Selection Program or an immigration pilot.听

In November 2025, the PEQ closed permanently. All pilot programs also wrapped up in January 2026, with only the AI pilot program accepting new applicants until December 31.³ As recent graduates are among the most likely to have AI expertise, they likely composed a higher proportion of this pilot’s applicants.

Atlantic Canada听

While the four Atlantic Canadian provinces are neighbours, the composition of their PR approvals varies considerably:

Between 2018 and 2025, Prince Edward Island (PEI) had the largest proportion of past study permit holders among its pool of PR approvals than any other province. PEI is Canada’s smallest province, which is reflected in its total PR count: when past study permit holders’ proportion of PR approvals peaked in 2021, that translated into their receiving just over 1,500 approvals.

In New Brunswick, the total number of past study permit holders approved for PR climbed to nearly 3,200 in 2025, exceeding Nova Scotia’s total of just under 3,000. This was the first time in at least the last eight years in which this was true. Meanwhile, Newfoundland’s proportion of international graduates ticked upward in 2025, climbing four percentage points YOY.

Preparing Graduates for a Bright Global Future

A key part of the work international education professionals do with students is preparing them for their next steps after graduation. Whether it’s moving into an advanced degree or the job market, students thrive when they understand their options and feel supported by their academic institutions and community organizations.听

Across Canada, international graduates continue to be approved for permanent residency at a significantly higher rate than applicants who did not hold a Canadian study permit.听

While it’s important to remember that the approval rate advantage of former study permit holders applies only to applicants who received an ITA, it’s unsurprising that they’re approved at higher rates than applicants who weren’t former students. International students benefit from access to the latest knowledge in their field and hands-on training through their studies, and build cultural competencies while on campus that help them to better understand and integrate into Canadian society. Ultimately, these advantages help to prepare past study permit holders for success when pursuing the next chapter of their lives in Canada.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. The terms听student visa听and听study permit听are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enrol in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is accepted for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies. In this article, we鈥檒l use the terms interchangeably.

2. All data is sourced from (IRCC) unless noted otherwise.

3. CIC News, “.” Updated Nov. 7, 2025.

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Canadian academic institutions and prospective students alike have navigated mounting concerns about Canada as a study destination, as the country鈥檚 international student caps have caused a greater application slowdown than the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has some good news for the sector. In 2025, 52% of first-time applicants were approved for a new Canadian student visa¹ at the postsecondary level.²

This means that institutions who prioritize well-prepared first-time applicants will more likely maximize their provincial attestation letter (PAL) success rates. Meanwhile, these findings reinforce to students and their advisors the importance of submitting a complete, high-quality study permit application on their first attempt. Read on to discover how divergent approval trends between new and repeat applicants could shape Canada鈥檚 international education sector in 2026 and beyond.

The New Canadian Student Visa Success Rates of First-Time and Repeat Applicants in 2025

For both prospective students and postsecondary institutions, a complete first application has historically been the strongest predictor for study permit success. Getting that first attempt right is essential, as first-time visa applicants remained the only cohort to have an approval rate of over 50% in both 2024 and 2025:

In 2025, over 54,000 first-time applicants were approved for a new Canadian postsecondary student visa. This cohort had a 52% approval rate, which was 20 percentage points higher than applicants on their second attempt.

This sizable gap between first and second attempts is mostly in line with historical trends. What stands out is the tighter approval landscape between applicants making subsequent attempts when compared to the early 2020s. In 2025, second-time applicants were approved at only a 32% rate, with third-time and fourth-or-more-time applicants approved at a 28% and 22% rate, respectively.

The outcomes from 2025 sharply contrast with those from 2023. During that year, the total number of approvals for third-time applicants reached 19,000 (up 100% year-over-year) and 10,000 for the fourth-or-more-attempts cohort (up 331%), with approval rates spiking to 65% and 67%, respectively.

Moving past that outlier year and into an environment where overall permit allocations are now capped, this data offers a clear path forward. Institutions can better maximize their conversion rates by prioritizing strong first-time applicants. Likewise, prospective students can give themselves the best chance of success by ensuring their applications are complete and demonstrate a clear academic progression.

Which Student Populations Led First-Time Approvals in 2025?

While demonstrating a logical academic progression remains the primary driver of individual students’ success, a macro-level view reveals strong approval trends among Canada’s largest incoming student populations. In 2025, 8 of Canada’s 10 largest student populations by first-time approvals had a student visa approval rate above 70%:

Last year, first-time postsecondary applicants from China and France drove the highest overall volumes, with 7,600 and 6,700 approvals respectively. Both student populations exceeded an 85% approval rate. Likewise, 97% of first-time applicants from the US were approved for a new postsecondary study permit, with their 4,100 approvals representing a growth of 32% over 2024.

But the story is incomplete without highlighting India. Nearly 6,200 first-time applicants from India were approved for a Canadian postsecondary visa last year. This was a decline of 91% compared to 2024. And the 45% approval rate for this cohort was half of what it was the previous year. This new landscape underscores the importance of targeted applicant support. By equipping prospective students to build robust initial applications, institutions can help incoming learners navigate evolving regulatory requirements and successfully begin their studies in Canada.

What Were the Approval Rates for First-Time Applicants to Canadian Colleges and Universities in 2025?

Late last year, we dove into how new Canadian student visa approval rates for university-level bachelor鈥檚 degrees rose through the summer. First-time study permit applicants drove those gains (you can use the select-down menu to filter by study level):

In 2025, IRCC approved nearly 21,000 first-time applicants for a university-level bachelor’s degree. This cohort had a 67% approval rate, which was 10 percentage points higher than the previous year. And applicants on their second and third application attempts also experienced a slight jump in approval rates at this level, up 11 and 7 percentage points year-over-year, respectively.

A strong first application is important at the postgraduate level as well. 2025’s 57% visa approval rate for first-time applicants at the master鈥檚 level was 23 percentage points higher than it was for second-time applicants. And, while the gap narrows at the doctorate level, the 86% visa approval rate for first-time applicants was nonetheless an 11 percentage point advantage over second-time applicants.

College programs were the only Canadian study level where first-time visa applicants did not have an approval rate above 50%. Moreover, the 37% approval rate for first-time applicants in 2025 was down 25 percentage points compared to 2024. Still, that approval rate was 14 percentage points above second-time applicants.

Maximizing First-Time Application Success in 2026

The 2025 data reveals a key takeaway across all study levels and student populations: A well-prepared initial application is the most reliable path to a Canadian study permit. In a competitive landscape defined by permit caps, the margin for error on subsequent study permit attempts has narrowed.

That’s why working with 老九品茶 can help you maximize the success of these crucial first attempts. Our advanced AI and platform technology equip institutions and student advisors with effective tools to vet candidates long before submission. Also, by identifying missing requirements early in the process, we empower prospective students to build robust applications that demonstrate a clear academic trajectory, ultimately helping them successfully begin their studies in Canada.

Ready to expand your reach among global student populations? Join our global network today, or connect with your regional representative to learn about taking international student recruitment to the next level.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. The terms student visa and study permit are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enrol in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is accepted for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies. In this article, we鈥檒l use the terms interchangeably.

2. All data is sourced from unless otherwise noted.

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Since its launch, the 老九品茶 platform has helped over 1.3 million students over the course of their study abroad journey. For many prospective students, the search bar on our platform is the first step of this journey. It鈥檚 where students can match the right program with the right destination for advancing their educational and career goals. Through this proprietary search data, we can find leading indicators of changing student preferences, in turn empowering us to help students achieve success both within and outside the classroom.¹

In the first of a three-part series on international student search trends, we focus on Canada and the fields of study students are exploring for 2026 and beyond. Last year showed that Canada鈥檚 international student cap had a larger impact on student demand than the COVID-19 shutdown. As a result, many international students鈥� interest continued to shift toward Canadian study programs with direct ties to in-demand sectors. Discover how students adapted their program preferences in 2025 and how institutions could adjust for 2026.

International Students Increasingly Interested in Canadian Programs For High-Demand Careers

Our 2026 Trends Report dove into how today鈥檚 students face a more volatile global economy and competitive hiring market. With a weak economic outlook awaiting new graduates, prospective students are prioritizing programs that clearly align with a destination鈥檚 long-term workforce needs. Our internal data shows ongoing, notable growth in search volumes on our platform for health-related fields,² as well as significant interest in both engineering and technology and the sciences.

Here鈥檚 how student searches for Canadian programs evolved across different fields between 2022 and 2025:

Health programs continue to see the largest gains in student interest on the 老九品茶 platform. Nearly 19% of international students searching for a Canadian study program considered fields related to health in 2025. This was up by two percentage points versus 2024, and seven percentage points higher than in 2022. Additionally, Canada has a critical need for more students to enter health programs: in 2024, an estimated 5.7 million Canadian adults did not have a regular health care provider.³

The health workforce is not growing at the rate needed to meet the demand for care, especially as Canada鈥檚 growing population ages and considering the pre-existing unmet demand.
鈥� Canadian Institute for Health Information, Dec. 2025.

In total, STEM fields accounted for 52.7% of all searches on 老九品茶’s platform for Canadian programs in 2025. We expect health will become the second-most searched for field of study by 老九品茶 students in 2026.

This has led to students deprioritizing business programs. While still the field of study receiving the highest number of searches, business programs accounted for 26% of Canadian search volume in 2025, which was seven percentage points below 2022. Some of this interest has moved into social-related fields, with the proportion of searches for law, politics, social, community service, and teaching up four percentage points in 2025 compared to 2022.

Did you know: Over the first eight months of 2025, study permit approval rates for Canadian bachelor’s degree programs were 16 percentage points higher than in full-year 2024? Learn about the resiliency of approval rates at this study level, and which provinces saw the highest approval rate jumps with 老九品茶 Insights.

Which International Student Populations Are Most Interested in Canadian STEM Programs?

Administrators at Canadian academic institutions are being asked to do more with finite seats, staff time, and student-support capacity. To help institutions allocate their resources where demand is forming and better connect students with programs that will set them up for success, 老九品茶鈥檚 proprietary search data offers an early glimpse at which student populations are gravitating toward specific programs.

The graphic below lets you see how field of study preferences changed among some of Canada鈥檚 largest student populations from 2022 to 2025:

With health fields representing one of the clearest avenues toward high-demand careers, it鈥檚 unsurprising that interest in these programs grew among all 12 of the major student populations highlighted above. The student populations with the largest proportion of health-related searches in 2025 were the Philippines (29.9%), Ghana (22.7%), and Nigeria (22.1%). Additionally, students from China and India had the largest proportional increase in 2025 compared to 2022: health related searches grew by 9.1 and 8.3 percentage points respectively over this period.

For institutions looking to bolster their engineering and technology classrooms, LATAM students show the largest proportional interest in this field. In 2025, Mexico (27.1%), Brazil (26.8%), and Colombia (25.4%) had the highest share of search interest in engineering and technology. Mexican students also had the largest proportional gain in engineering and technology program interest compared to 2022, as searches for this field grew by 8.3 percentage points. The next largest proportional gains between 2022 and 2025 came from Filipino (+2.5 percentage points) and Nigerian (+2.1) students.

When it came to the highest proportional searches for sciences, Pakistan (20.5% of total searches), Nepal (17.8%), and Bangladesh (17.4%) led the way in 2025. And compared to 2022 levels, interest grew the most among students from Brazil (+6.5 percentage points), Mexico (+6.2), and Sri Lanka (+4.6).

Leveraging Data for Strategic Student Recruitment in 2026

Understanding which student populations are driving interest in specific fields of study enables institutions to optimize their international outreach strategy. Canada鈥檚 2026 immigration policies link . As such, institutions that align their program marketing with these evolving regulations can offer a clear advantage to incoming applicants.

But providing this advantage requires deep awareness of student inflows and intentional global reach. The 老九品茶 platform can equip Canadian academic institutions with the proprietary search data needed to match diverse student populations with policy-aligned programs.

Focusing on these specific pathways will help to ensure your institution can build resilient, high-quality classrooms. Reach out to our Commercial Partnerships Team to refine your recruitment strategy for the upcoming cycle. And stay tuned for parts two and three in this series.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. In the past, 老九品茶 platform search data was generated based on button clicks on a page, while the new search data is generated by any changes made to the page鈥檚 filters (destination, field of study, etc.) As a result, the new search count, if tallied using the previous search data approach, would be significantly inflated compared to the original search count. To make the search counts more comparable, we changed our methodology in August 2024 to use unique entries per user within each hour..

2. On our platform, “health” includes health sciences, medicine, nursing, paramedic, and kinesiology fields of study.

3. Canadian Institute for Health Information, . December 11, 2025.

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Last week, the UK鈥檚 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) released its latest data on international student enrolments. The UK hosted nearly 686,000 international students for the 2024/25 academic year, a decline of 6% over the previous academic year.¹ This is the second straight academic year in which total enrolment figures in the UK fell, and was a larger year-over-year percentage point drop than what occurred in 2023/24. This is a trend we predicted in last year鈥檚 HESA data analysis:

[The 2024/25] enrolment data may chart an even larger drop [than 2023/24]. That鈥檚 because main applicant student visa submissions fell by 12% in the 2024 calendar year.
鈥� 老九品茶 Insights Team, April 2025.²

 
The UK鈥檚 academic years are from August of the previous year to July of the given year.³ This means the declining enrolments in 2024/25 reflect the impact of tightened dependant rules, questions about post-study work opportunities, and , which were ongoing concerns throughout the 2024 calendar year.

Here, we鈥檙e unpacking what the latest HESA data reveals about international postgraduate students in the UK during the 2024/25 academic year, and what early visa trends suggest institutions may see next.

Postgraduate Studies Drove Overall Enrolment Declines in the UK in 2024/25

In every academic year since 2021/22, postgraduate studies have accounted for at least 55% of all international student enrolments in the UK. Indeed, 57% of international students in the UK pursued postgraduate studies in 2024/25. And it is this study level that drove the overall enrolment decline of 6%:

Nearly 389,000 international students pursued postgraduate studies in the UK in 2024/25. This was 10% lower than the previous academic year, and 15% below the high-water mark of 2022/23. This trend is in line with what we predicted we鈥檇 see during our analysis of that record figure:

[W]e do expect that much of the decline in visa issuances will be at the postgraduate level, since these older students are more likely to be impacted by new restrictions on dependants than the typically younger students at the undergraduate level.
鈥� 老九品茶 Insights Team, September 2024.⁴

 
We鈥檙e expecting next year鈥檚 data for the 2025/26 academic year will show a bit more stability. That鈥檚 because visa data is often a leading indicator of what institutions can expect to see in their classrooms, and we鈥檝e forecasted that about 415,000 main applicants will be issued a UK study visa in 2025.⁵ This would be an increase of 5% over the previous calendar year. And that鈥檚 on top of the 9% year-over-year growth in applications processed from main applicants in Q4 2025. These visa trends suggest that demand ticked upward on the macro level.

However, macro-level trends can mask the reality of individual institutions. In December 2025, the British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) released its annual recruitment data. In it, 61% of universities who responded to BUILA鈥檚 survey reported a decrease in postgraduate international enrolments for courses starting in September that year.⁶

Additionally, our analysis of the UK鈥檚 provisional monthly application data found that the number of main applicants who applied for a student visa in Q4 2025 fell by 15% compared to Q4 2024. This signals that international student demand softened at the end of the year, likely the first sign of how the UK鈥檚 is affecting the education sector.

All of this points to a 2025/26 intake that may rebound in aggregate, yet ultimately remain uneven across the sector. For institutions, this means treating national momentum as a backdrop, and building approaches around where demand is actually holding up by course, study level, and student population.

Largest Postgraduate Enrolment Dips Are From Student Populations Heavily Impacted by Dependants Ban

Shortly after the UK government announced its intention to limit the ability of international students to bring dependants into the country with them in summer 2023, we flagged the countries with high dependant-to-main-applicant ratios. This ratio captures the number of dependants for every primary student visa issued, and student populations with a high ratio would be the most likely to be impacted by the government鈥檚 new policy. In our 2023 analysis, we highlighted Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Bangladesh, and Iran, which all had ratios over 0.5, as well as India due to the sheer volume of its dependants.

Nigeria and Sri Lanka were the only two countries in 2022/23 that were issued more dependant study visas than primary study visas.
鈥� 老九品茶 Insights Team, August 2023.⁷

 
During the 2024/25 academic year, Nigeria and Sri Lanka saw the largest year-over-year enrolment declines at the postgraduate level,⁸ while the four other noted countries also experienced some of the largest enrolment drops:

The number of Nigerian and Sri Lankan students enrolled in postgraduate studies in the UK dropped 39% and 36% year-over-year, respectively. India (-13%), Bangladesh (-19%), Ghana (-14%), and Iran (-25%) also experienced significant year-over-year declines.

However, student populations with high dependant-to-main-applicant visa ratios weren’t the only downturns. In fact, enrolments fell for 15 of the UK鈥檚 20 largest postgraduate student populations. But only Italy (-23%) and France (-19%) dropped at a comparable rate to those with historically high dependants ratios, aligning with a multi-year trend of fewer EU-based students pursuing an education in the UK following Brexit.

These results underscore how policy changes can have multi-year impacts, while also illustrating how visa data can help sector leaders anticipate where enrolment pressures will emerge next. Tracking how application and issuance levels shift also provides early visibility into how quickly demand can change. This awareness can be used to support more proactive, strategic planning, such as aligning targets and investments with the student populations most likely to shape future outcomes. Proactive strategy will also help institutions to remain compliant with the new BCA thresholds outlined in the 2025 White Paper.

Eyes on Research-Based Postgraduate Enrolment Spikes

One development in the postgraduate sector to watch is the rising demand for research courses. As postgraduate research programmes aren’t subject to the dependants ban, it’s likely some students shifted their target courses. In 2024/25, nearly 51,000 international students pursued this level of study, which was 7% higher than the previous academic year. Total non-EU student enrolments were up 11%, while EU student enrolments were down 12%:

The outsized year-over-year increases in research-based postgraduate enrolments鈥攅specially among student populations from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and India鈥攆it closely with the markets most disrupted by the dependants restriction on taught postgraduate routes. That alignment has already attracted scrutiny: reporting in late 2025 indicated the Home Office was considering changes to the current exemption for master’s-by-research-style programmes amid concerns about recruitment practices and rapid growth at a small subset of providers.⁹

For institutions, the practical takeaway here is to manage growth in research programmes with extra care. That includes tightening your team’s oversight of agent and marketing messaging, making sure admissions processes assess genuine research fit and readiness, while also scenario-planning for potential changes to dependant eligibility.

And for international student advisors, the key is to centre academic fit in conversations with students interested in these courses. Also, ensure you鈥檙e setting clear expectations that dependant rules can change and should never be treated as a guaranteed feature of a programme.

How 老九品茶 Helps Students and Institutions Succeed in the UK

Enrolment patterns in the UK over the 2024/25 academic year reinforce how quickly demand can shift in response to policy and affordability pressure. With tighter compliance expectations on the horizon, institutions and advisers will need stronger student readiness, clearer academic fit, and more frequent in-cycle monitoring to avoid being caught off guard. This preparation is especially relevant where growth is concentrating in areas already attracting added scrutiny, such as in research-based postgraduate courses.

老九品茶 supports your work by strengthening course selection and application quality through our platform. Our AI-powered matching helps advisers steer students toward programmes where they鈥檙e more likely to succeed, while our quality controls and required documentation checks promote stronger, more consistent submissions. We also provide data-backed insights on demand and visa outcomes, helping institutions adjust recruitment focus and student support as conditions change through the cycle.

Want to take your student recruitment goals to the next level? Connect with our UK commercial partnerships team or reach out to your Account Director to discuss strategies tailored to your needs.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. All enrolment data courtesy of .

2. 老九品茶 Insights, For Second Straight Year, International Student Volumes Surpassed Domestic Student Volumes in UK Postgraduate Studies. April 30, 2025.

3. For example, the 2024/25 academic year spans August 2024 to July 2025.

4. 老九品茶 Insights, UK International Enrolment Reached High-Water Mark in the 2022/23 Academic Year. September 16, 2024.

5. All visa application data is sourced from the unless otherwise noted. Projections may be subject to change based on changing conditions and source data.

6. BUILA surveyed members in October and November 2025 and received 69 responses.

7. 老九品茶 Insights, Predicting the Impact of the UK鈥檚 Dependants Policy Change on International Students. August 15, 2023.

8. Minimum 300 enrolments.

9. ICEF, . December 11, 2025.

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Last year, overall international student numbers climbed, highlighting these students’ determination for a world-class education even amid rising costs and often less hospitable policy environments. In 2026, student pathways continue to be meaningfully shaped by government updates, affordability concerns, and broader social movements. Our 2026 Trends Report highlighted a number of shifts informing the sector. Below, we’re leveraging the latest information available to build off of this report and give you the insights you need to effectively support student success this year.

Here are some of our top international education sector predictions for 2026.

1. International Education Will Remain in the Spotlight

We expect immigration to remain a top-of-mind issue in many Anglophone destinations in 2026, and for it to continue to affect international education policies in these countries.

International enrolments are projected to reach 8.5 million worldwide by 2030.¹ Preparing for these outbound students is a growing priority for institutions and governments in many destinations, whether in the form of building adequate student housing, revising course options to align with student demand and job market needs, or providing support services on campus.

Institutions across the sector are hopeful that the increased level of public attention on post-secondary education will translate to increased funding or more sustainable funding models. In many study destinations, colleges and universities are collectively lobbying for major increases in operating funding after years of frozen tuition and constrained public funding led to budget cuts, layoffs, and program reductions.² This isn’t unique to any single geography; many institutions are weathering increased student demand with less funding, or are restricted by investment tied to specific initiatives.

2. Evolving US Policy Environment Shifts Student Inflows

Despite a mid-year pause in visa processing and highly publicized visa revocations in 2025, many international students’ resolve to study in the US remains. However, as these news stories were shared, some students’ outlook on the US shifted: in 老九品茶’s Fall 2025 Pulse Surveys, 17% of students and 18% of international student advisors strongly agreed the US was an open, safe, and welcoming destination for international students.

If the current volatility continues, more international students may explore alternative options for starting or completing their degree. New international student enrolment dipped by 7% year-over-year in the 2024/25 academic year,³ but many US institutions continue to offer excellent learning and research opportunities for international students, and institutional efforts are underway to stabilize enrolment in 2025/26.

Immigration Guidelines to Redirect Some International Students

Meanwhile, evolving immigration policies, such as adjustments to H-1B visas,⁴ also affect student outlooks. Furthermore, while the US government’s January 1 travel guidance has introduced new restrictions on the issuance of US student visas for individuals from 39 countries, it also prompts prospective students to explore a wider range of global educational opportunities.⁵

For instance, Nigeria, which was the eighth most common place of origin for international students in the US over the most recent academic year, is now seeking new destinations for its talented students.⁶ While current Nigerian students in the US will maintain their visas, prospective international students from Nigeria are poised to enrich other education systems. To illustrate just one impact of this measure, consider that nearly 22,000 Nigerian students were enrolled in studies in the US in 2024/25, and the U.S. Department of Commerce estimated the economic impact of this student population in 2024 was US$889 million.

As the enrolment number above includes students at all points in their studies, it鈥攁nd the related research and innovation metrics, along with the economic support鈥攚on’t disappear from the US overnight. But, over the next few years, these students’ absence will affect the communities and campuses they would have otherwise joined.

3. Further Diversification of Popular Study Destinations

Restrictive policy shifts in major Anglophone destinations contribute to international students’ rising interest in a wider range of study countries. And whether one refers to the expanded list as the Big 12, 14, or 15, international student populations in these destinations will likely continue to grow through 2026.

For example, almost 75% of German universities welcomed equal or higher numbers of new international students over the most recent academic year.⁷ Additionally, survey results from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) found that 46% of universities planned to increase the number of English-taught courses they offered year-over-year.

Common themes across other study destinations include strategic investment in their higher education sectors and responsiveness to international trends. These countries are setting ambitious goals and reaching them, sometimes ahead of schedule, as South Korea did by surpassing its target of 300,000 international students two years early.⁸

Other governments are facilitating student pathways to welcome students impacted by policy changes elsewhere: the EduBridge to Spain initiative allows students who are either enrolled in or planning to enrol in American universities to transfer their credits and secure acceptance into Spanish higher education institutions.⁹ While user data on the EduBridge program is forthcoming, targeted programs like these are often successful in attracting bright students and researchers.

These are just a few examples of how emerging study destinations are preparing for the next wave of student mobility and positioning themselves as attractive, stable options. The main takeaway here is that a large number of countries are ready to welcome the skilled students who feel turned away by restrictive policies in the major Anglophone destinations, and that the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� will likely be a misnomer within the next few years.

4. Affordability and Career-Readiness Top Concerns for Students

In 老九品茶’s Fall 2025 Pulse Survey, we asked our network of international student advisors how they expected the sector to evolve. This response highlights students’ changing priorities and the careful balance the sector must strike:

Looking ahead, three clear shifts stand out in international education. First, the demand is increasingly policy driven. For Nigerian students, immigration rules matter far more than university rankings. Second, new destinations are emerging. Ireland, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Mauritius, and the UAE may not carry the prestige of the UK or US, but their friendlier policies make them serious contenders. Third, the financial burden is forcing more creative solutions, including a turn toward scholarships, tuition discounts, and even blended or remote programs that allow students to earn international credentials without shouldering the full cost of relocation.

Respondents to the Fall 2025 老九品茶 Student Pulse Survey were similarly focused on affordability and flexibility:

Only 12% of students noted that affordability wasn’t affecting their study abroad plans. The remaining respondents shared that they were considering a combination of alternate destinations, different program options or durations, or employment options to afford their studies.

Graduate Outcomes Prioritized by Many International Students

Meanwhile, these students are graduating into a competitive global job market. The report from the National Association of Colleges + Employers (NACE) noted that 45% of surveyed US employers characterized the job market for new graduates as “fair.” This is a downgrade compared to the previous four years, when the plurality of employers ranked the job market as “good.” In the UK, employers received over 1 million applications for around 17,000 graduate vacancies in 2024. This marked the highest level of competition for graduate-level roles since the Institute of Student Employers started collecting this data in 1991.¹⁰

Intensified competition from their peers, as well as the replacement of many entry-level roles with automation, means that graduate engagement rates are becoming more than just numbers to prospective students. Graduate engagement is a measurable indicator of whether the investment required for an international education is worth spending at a specific institution. While this is only one dimension of students’ decision-making, institutions should proactively highlight offerings that can jumpstart a new grad’s career, whether it’s their graduates’ success stories, alumni support services, or industry partnerships. A sharper focus on return-on-education-investment and affordability is expected to persist through 2026.

5. TNE Promises Flexibility and Increased Access

Like international students, academic institutions are also adapting to fluctuating policy and a rising cost of living. Outdated funding models, widespread demands, and limited income sources continue to affect many institutions’ operations. For some institutions, transnational education opportunities (TNE) broaden access to international student audiences while providing more diversified funding.

TNE, which encompasses branch campuses, distance learning, joint education institutions and programmes (JEIs and JEPs), and more, is already a well-established approach. Still, it felt omnipresent in the back half of 2025, not least as Indian and Chinese governments updated their guidelines around transnational education.

Both countries increased their regulatory flexibility to allow more international universities to establish branch campuses. In September 2025, China approved a total of 50 new JEPs and JEIs, with the UK, Russia, and the US securing the highest numbers of approvals.¹¹ Meanwhile, nearly 20 institutions from Australia, Italy, the UK, and the US announced branch campuses in India in 2025. The UK’s University of Southampton was the first of this cohort to open, last August.¹²

We expect to see more institutions updating what their international partnerships and learning opportunities look like in 2026. One of the highest-profile examples of TNE on the world stage is its inclusion as a key element for increasing the value of the UK’s education exports in the government’s new .

Upcoming 老九品茶 Events and Insights

2026 will present many opportunities and challenges for teams across the international education sector. To effectively support student success, strategic planning and agile adaptation to the latest trends is critical. At 老九品茶, we’re committed to helping all our partners and the sector at large build the new paths forward.

One of the most exciting ways we’ll do this will be in Delhi this March, where we’ll connect with our network of international student advisors and academic institutions at TRW 2026. This flagship two-day event is a great opportunity to learn what’s next for the sector and meet similarly-minded changemakers.

Want to join us? .

We also encourage you to stay connected by following 老九品茶’s channels on and . And, for direct commentary on how these trends may affect the international education sector, we invite you to , on LinkedIn.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. The PIE, . December 30, 2026.

2. Global News, “.” January 21, 2026.

3. IIE, . November 17, 2025.

4. Financial Express, “.” January 15, 2026.

5. NAFSA, . January 15, 2026.

6. IIE, . November 17, 2025.

7. DAAD, . December 19, 2025.

8. The PIE, “.” October 31, 2025.

9. Language Magazine, “.” September 1, 2025.

10. Euro News, “” October 14, 2025.

11. British Council, . September 24, 2025.

12. The PIE, “” December 24, 2025.

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The Institute of International Education (IIE)鈥檚 , released last November, showed that the United States hosted its highest total number of international students ever in the 2024/25 academic year. This builds on the trends of the 2023/24 academic year, the previous record. However, was again a major contributor to this milestone, as more international graduates stayed in the US after completing their studies to gain work experience. In fact, international student enrolments stayed flat in 2024/25 versus 2023/24.

Against this backdrop, we鈥檙e taking a closer look at the latest US enrolment patterns, including how they differ across undergraduate and graduate study levels. We鈥檒l also explore what the latest shifts suggest for enrolment levels in different fields of study. Together, these insights can help institutions in the US plan their recruitment strategies for 2026 and beyond.

OPT Attracted Record-High Number of Participants in 2024/25

Nearly 1.2 million international students studied or participated in Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the US in 2024/25. This represents a growth of nearly 5% over the previous academic year:

Though the total number of international students in the US rose 5% year-over-year, that growth was driven by a 21% increase in OPT placements. There were over 294,000 OPT participants in 2024/25, while the 884,000 international enrolments matched the total of the previous year.

The rise in pre- and post-graduation temporary employment demonstrates strong student interest in gaining practical work experience. 88% of respondents to our Fall 2025 Recruitment Partner Pulse Survey cited post-study work opportunities as a student priority when considering where to study. In fact, for the first time ever in our pulse surveys, respondents put post-study work opportunities nearly on par with the long-standing top priority, cost of studying (88% vs. 91%).

This means that, moving forward, the institutions that can demonstrate clear work-integrated learning opportunities and success stories to prospective students will be the ones that differentiate themselves from their competition, both domestically and across the globe.

To learn more about how students are responding to new economic realities and how institutions are facilitating student success beyond the classroom, check out the A More Discerning Student section from our 2026 Trends Report.

New International Enrolment in the US Declines in 2024/25

While OPT growth lifted the overall international student total in 2024/25, new international enrolment moved in the opposite direction. There were about 277,000 new international enrolments across the US in 2024/25, representing a year-over-year decline of 7%:

New enrolments dropped most noticeably at the graduate level, with a year-over-year decline of 15%. US campuses welcomed 25,000 fewer new international graduate students in 2024/25 compared to the previous academic year. This ended a three-year run of year-over-year growth at the graduate level. The non-degree level also saw fewer new enrolments, falling 4% over this period.

Conversely, nearly 99,000 new international students were enrolled at the undergraduate level in 2024/25. This was 5% higher than the previous academic year.

The Student Populations Who Pursued STEM Opportunities in the US the Most in 2024/25

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations in the US are projected to grow 8% from 2024 to 2034.² This is nearly triple the projected pace for non-STEM roles. Additionally, STEM roles offered a 2024 median annual wage of about US$104,000, more than double the non-STEM median.

These strong career outcomes continue to make STEM pathways appealing, especially to students from the following populations:

Students from India, Bangladesh, Iran, and Nepal showed the strongest concentration in STEM. In 2024/25, over 70% of students from each country pursued STEM opportunities (including OPT). Large year-over-year swings are less common in the field of study data because OPT is included in these totals. This means the distributions incorporate students who remain in the US after graduation, potentially for up to three years, rather than only enrolments.³

That said, each major student population gravitates toward different fields within STEM to different degrees. For instance, 43% of Indian students participated in math and computer science fields, well ahead of other major student groups. Nepalese students followed, with 30% pursuing these fields.

Nepalese students were also highly interested in physical and life sciences. In 2024/25, 16% of Nepalese students pursued this field. This was again the second-highest share among the US鈥檚 largest student populations, behind only Nigerian students (18%). Both countries paired high physical and life sciences participation with relatively strong interest in health. 10% of students from Nepal and Nigeria pursued health-related fields in 2024/25.

Iranian and Bangladeshi students, on the other hand, clustered more heavily in engineering, with 44% and 34% of these student populations pursuing engineering, respectively.

Last year鈥檚 report showed that the top three STEM OPT employers in 2024 were Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Read our full analysis of last year鈥檚 SEVIS by the Numbers report to learn how STEM talent has powered the American international education sector.

How US Institutions Can Empower the Next Generation of Global Talent and Remain Competitive on a Global Scale

This year’s Open Doors data reinforces that American academic institutions can鈥檛 rely on broad, steady-state assumptions in their recruitment planning. As student priorities continue to shift, institutions benefit most when they use enrolment and field-of-study trends to guide where to focus and how to position programs. Monitoring these changes year over year helps recruitment teams respond earlier and stay competitive in a crowded global market.

Given the continued strong interest in STEM and rising OPT participation, institutions in the US benefit from moving beyond general claims about 鈥渃areer outcomes.鈥� Recruitment materials like program pages should directly connect specific disciplines to work-integrated learning, employer connections, and post-study options. Likewise, institutions can differentiate themselves by illustrating how they uniquely support students鈥� success inside and outside of the classroom.

These efforts matter because many students continue to weigh destinations through a return-on-investment lens. Clear, program-specific guidance on work experience opportunities and post-study options can help students assess fit, which builds clarity during their decision-making process.

Looking ahead, institutions that monitor enrolment signals early and translate them into more targeted program positioning will be better placed to sustain international recruitment outcomes. In a competitive sector, specificity and consistency in how institutions communicate student success can meaningfully improve outcomes for both institutions and their students.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. All data courtesy of the Institute of International Education (IIE) .

2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, . Data is based on the last modification date of August 28, 2025.

3. While the standard duration of OPT is one year of full-time employment, graduates from eligible STEM programs may receive up to two years of additional post-completion OPT through the .

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In the 2026 Trends Report, we projected that the United Kingdom would issue around 400,000 study visas to main applicants in 2025, about the same as in 2024. But with full Q3 data and application data through November now available, we鈥檙e revising this projection upward. We鈥檙e expecting approximately 415,000 main applicants will be issued a UK student visa in 2025, an increase of 5% over 2024.¹

However, while visa data shows that 2025 was a year of stability relative to 2024 at the macro level, performance was a lot more variable at the institutional level. The British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) released its annual recruitment data in December, which showed that 61% of universities surveyed reported a decrease in postgraduate international enrolments for courses starting in September 2025.²

In other words, macro-level results can mask meaningful impacts that institutions are experiencing. And in 2026, the operating environment will tighten as new Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) thresholds raise expectations across key metrics tied to student sponsorship.³ Institutions will need more predictable conversion from offer to arrival stages and stronger support after enrolment to protect student success outcomes and maintain compliance.

Against this backdrop, institutions need also clearer visibility into where demand is strengthening and which student populations have stronger visa grant rates. Read on for the latest demand and visa outcome trends, and how 老九品茶 can support institutions in navigating the new compliance landscape without sacrificing campus diversity.

UK on Pace to Issue 5% More Main Applicant Student Visas in 2025 than in 2024

The UK issued nearly 373,000 student visas to main applicants during the first nine months of 2025. This was a 7% increase over the same period in 2024:

In 2023 and 2024, most main applicant student visa issuances were already recorded by the end of September. In fact, 89% of the full-year total in 2023 was issued between January and September, followed by 87% in 2024. While the macro picture is largely defined by this point, Q4 still helps shape where the year ultimately lands, and can determine whether 2025 finishes close to the previous year or ends somewhat higher.

Early signals point to some softening late in the year. Provisional monthly application data shows 48,900 main applicants applied for a student visa in Q4 2025, a 15% decrease compared to the Q4 2024. Assuming Q4 2025鈥檚 student visa grant rate matches that of Q4 2024, we鈥檙e projecting that around 415,000 international students will be issued a main applicant UK study visa for the full 2025 calendar-year.

Which Student Populations Saw UK Study Visa Success in 2025?

For institutions planning 2026 intakes under tighter BCA expectations, understanding which student populations are seeing consistently strong outcomes can support confident recruitment planning and protect campus diversity. The good news is that, through the first nine months of 2025, 16 of the UK鈥檚 top 20 student populations exceeded a 95% visa success rate:

Over 86,000 Chinese students were issued a UK study visa between January and September 2025. While this accounted for nearly one in every four student visa issuances over this period, it was an overall decline of 15% compared to the same months in 2024. Many Chinese students are after China heavily invested into its higher education system, expanding students鈥� access to top-tier facilities and competitive academic programs. Similarly, more Chinese students are , including Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia, due to these destinations’ geographical proximity and relatively more affordable cost. These students’ shifting outlook reinforces the need for UK institutions to both sharpen their value proposition for Chinese students and broaden enrolment growth to sustain campus diversity.

The good news is that demand for studying in the UK grew across many other parts of the world in 2025. After China, the next eight largest student populations all saw year-over-year growth in issuances, led by India. India鈥檚 85,000 issuances nearly matched China鈥檚 volume, and its grant rate remained high at 97%. Another standout was Nigeria, where issuances grew by 78% with a 95% success rate.

India and Nigeria show that strong demand growth can coincide with high visa success rates. But outcomes were more variable across other fast-growing markets in 2025, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ghana鈥攖he only top 20 student populations with grant rates below 90%. Looking ahead to 2026, stronger coordination between institutions, students, and student advisors will be essential to improve application quality and readiness in order to ensure students are clearly demonstrating their genuine intent to study.

老九品茶 Students Have Strong UK Grant Rates

For the 2025 intake, 95% of international students using 老九品茶 to apply for their UK study visa were successful.⁴ Overall, our students have met or exceeded this approval rate for the past four intake years, with results that often outperform the all-market average:

We noted above that Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ghana were the UK鈥檚 only top 20 student populations with visa grant rates below 90% during the first nine months of 2025. And it鈥檚 here that 老九品茶鈥檚 commitment to application quality really shines. 97% of Pakistani students who applied for their UK study visa for the 2025 intake were successful. For comparison, the all-market grant rate for Pakistani students was just 81%, a difference of 16 percentage points.

Similarly, 90% of Bangladeshi and 100% of Ghanaian students who applied for their UK study visa for the 2025 intake were successful, differences of 13 and 11 percentage points, respective

How 老九品茶 Delivers Stronger Student Success Outcomes in the UK

老九品茶鈥檚 advantage starts with AI-powered matching. By steering students toward courses that align with their academic journey, our platform supports stronger choices and more compelling applications. When students apply to courses that genuinely fit, it becomes easier to build a strong application.

From there, 老九品茶 helps partners deliver higher-quality submissions at scale. Built-in validation steps and guided workflows identify missing items early, improve documentation quality, and reduce preventable errors. This combination of better-fit matching and stronger file preparation helps institutions protect student success outcomes and maintain predictability in the enrolment process.

Preparing for New Student Pathways in 2026

The data from the first nine months of 2025 shows that the UK鈥檚 international education sector remained fairly stable compared to 2024. However, with new BCA thresholds, pathways for student success in 2026 will require stronger student readiness and clearer alignment between their course choices, study plans, and career goals.

For institutions, the risk is that tighter expectations push recruitment toward a narrower set of familiar populations. That may feel safer in the short term, but it can limit campus diversity and leave universities more exposed to sudden demand shocks. The encouraging signal from 2025 is that strong outcomes were not confined to one or two markets, which creates room to broaden enrolment while staying focused on quality.

This is where 老九品茶 can help. Our AI-powered matching technology supports better-fit course choices, and our quality controls help student advisors build stronger, more complete applications. 老九品茶鈥檚 data-backed insights also help institutions identify where demand is rising and where visa outcomes are strongest, so support can be targeted where it has the greatest impact.

We also strengthen performance across our partner network with tools like , which gives student advisors clearer expectations and practical guidance that improves their readiness and consistency through custom training modules. Combined, these supports help more international students arrive prepared to succeed, while helping institutions protect compliance expectations without sacrificing the diverse intakes that underpin the UK鈥檚 global education reputation.

Interested in how 老九品茶 can support your student recruitment goals for 2026? Reach out to our UK commercial partnerships team or connect with your Account Director to discuss strategies tailored to your direct needs.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. All data is sourced from the unless otherwise noted. Projections may be subject to change based on changing conditions and source data.

2. BUILA surveyed members in October and November 2025 and received 69 responses.

3. Under the new BCA thresholds, institutions will need to keep refusal rates below 5% (up from 10%) and course completion rates above 90% or else face sanctions. This was outlined in the UK government’s .

4. 老九品茶鈥檚 study visa approval rates are estimates calculated by the 老九品茶 data science team. The calculation is as follows:

Study Visa Approval Rate = Confirmed Study Visa Approvals 梅 (Confirmed Study Visa Approvals + Reported Study Visa Rejections)

Confirmed Study Visa Approval: Applicant has submitted documentary evidence of study visa approval to 老九品茶 and/or has had their enrolment confirmed by the destination institution.

Reported Study Visa Rejection: (a) Applicant has indicated to 老九品茶 that they have been refused a study visa and/or have requested a refund for their tuition deposit due to study visa refusal, and (b) applicant鈥檚 enrolment has not been confirmed by the destination institution.

Note: 老九品茶 applicants do not receive any special treatment from governing officials.

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Over the 2024/25 academic year,¹ interest in Irish higher education remained strong. In fact, international student enrolment reached a record high of 44,500, surpassing the previous year鈥檚 total of 40,000.听

Below, we’re taking a closer look at recently released student data from Ireland’s Higher Education Authority (HEA),² and diving into some of the trends shaping this sustained demand. We’ll discuss which programmes were attractive to international students, which student populations were among the fastest-growing in Ireland, overall international enrolment levels, and more.

Ireland’s International Student Population Continues to Grow

For the fourth academic year in a row, the number of international enrolments in Irish higher education institutions grew. In fact, total enrolments reached a new record in 2024/25:

Total international enrolments were up by 10% year-over-year in 2024/25. While this was a slower pace than in the previous academic years, it continued the trend of steady growth across the sector.听

It’s also encouraging that international undergraduate and postgraduate enrolments climbed. Undergraduate enrolments increased by 9% year-over-year while postgraduate enrolments climbed by 11%. In fact, the postgraduate sector is rapidly closing the gap between the two cohorts, with the study level trending toward exceeding undergraduate enrolments by the next academic cycle.听

老九品茶’s Fall 2025 Student Pulse Survey found that, of 老九品茶’s six study destinations, Ireland had the lowest rate of negative perception among international students. Respondents largely saw Ireland as an open, safe, and welcoming destination.听

Ireland’s Top International Student Populations in 2024/25

For the second year in a row, Indian students were the largest international student population in Ireland. In 2024/25, Indian students represented just over 20% of all international enrolments in Ireland. Enrolments from Indian students grew by 30% year-over-year, which made it a key driver of the sector’s growth:听

American students, who had been the largest student population until 2023/24, remained the second-largest cohort. This was also the fourth year in a row that the American international student population grew, a trend that will likely continue as more American students considered studying abroad in 2025 than in 2024. A recent study found that Ireland tied with Italy as the fourth most popular study abroad destination among American students.³

Enrolments from UK students, on the other hand, dipped by 5% year-over-year. This continues an ongoing trend for UK-based international students, as it鈥檚 the fourth year in a row in which their enrolments have dipped. This likely ties into the UK’s departure from both the European Union in late 2020 and the EU-wide Erasmus Programme, which allowed students from participating countries to study abroad without paying international student fees. As , our team predicts that the UK student population in Ireland will start rising again in that academic year.

Elsewhere, enrolment levels for Chinese students leveled out, remaining essentially the same as in 2023/24. Combined, the four largest international student populations in Ireland composed 51% of the total international student body during this past academic year:

Growth Diversifies Across Ireland’s Higher Education Sector

Several emerging international student populations also grew quickly in 2024/25. In fact, 70% of the 30 largest international student populations in Ireland expanded over the most recent academic year:

The Netherlands was the fastest-growing student population, rising by 41% compared to 2023/24 levels. In 2024/25, 6 of the 10 fastest-growing student populations in Ireland were European, which is understandable when nearly 40% of young Europeans think that the freedom to travel and explore other countries is a key benefit of being part of the EU.⁴听

This mobility is encouraged by programs like , which allows students from participating countries (the 27 EU Member States and 6 non-EU associated countries) to study in another participating country for up to 12 months. Students receive a grant that supports their travel and daily living costs, and are exempt from tuition, lab fees or library charges, though they still must cover insurance and student union fees. Initiatives like this are central to improving access to international study opportunities.

That said, three out of the four fastest-growing international student populations over the last two academic years were from outside of Europe: Brazil, India, and Mexico’s student populations each grew by over 25% in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By continuing to attract diverse student populations, institutions and government agencies bolster Ireland’s strength as a study destination.

Top Fields of Study in Ireland in 2024/25

Business, administration, and law programmes reclaimed the top spot from health and welfare-related courses as the most popular field of study among international students in Ireland. Almost 20% of international students pursued a business, administration, or law-related course in 2024/25:

Nearly every field of study saw a higher number of enrolments, which can be explained in part by the higher total number of international students in Ireland. That said, some fields grew faster than others. Arts, business, natural sciences, and ICT courses saw double-digit enrolment growth year-over-year. Meanwhile, growth slowed in the health and engineering fields of study.

An exception to this pattern was education programme enrolment, which dropped by 40% year-over-year. It was the only field of study that didn’t grow, and aligns with findings in other parts of the world that demand for education programmes is declining.⁵ Across many of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, while teachers’ annual salary numbers increased between 2015 and 2023, it wasn’t enough to keep up with inflation. As such, many teachers’ purchasing power was lower in 2023 than it was in 2015. Over that timeframe, in Ireland, experienced lower secondary teachers’ purchasing power . This economic shift may contribute to international students seeing teaching as a less attractive career choice.听

For many international students, the financial investment required to live and study abroad is significant. This may have influenced their interest in business, health, and STEM fields, as, especially for STEM graduates, starting salaries can be higher.⁶ Meanwhile, new grads pursuing health care roles are in steady demand, and their training can prepare them for careers across the EU.

Building a Sustainable Future for International Students in Ireland听

As student populations grow, institutions must sustain programs and tools that encourage holistic student success. Per HEA data, in the most recent academic year, 20% out of all students (international and domestic) in Ireland reported that they live with a disability. Learning difficulties like dyslexia or ADHD were reported by 50% of those students, while 38% reported a psychological or emotional condition.听

Life with a disability affects international students in a variety of ways: not least, they experience the additional stressors of living and studying in an unfamiliar country, and may also be adjusting to a learning environment in their non-primary language. They might be less familiar with the student well-being or academic services offered by a HEI, or less willing to seek support when they need it.⁷ For example, an US-based survey of nearly 45,000 college students (domestic and international) found that international students were less likely to report depression-anxiety or anxiety diagnoses despite reporting higher rates of depressive symptoms (42.4%) than their domestic peers (40.2%).⁸听

Compounding this challenge is that as recently as 2023, a survey conducted by the European Union found Ireland was the hardest place in the EU to access mental health services. Respondents cited factors like cost, treatment and diagnosis delays, long waiting lists, and lack of awareness of different services.⁹

Open conversations about the different tools available on-campus and online helps to destigmatize accessing these services. And across campus, using human-forward and tech initiatives can help international students thrive. For example, student support volunteers who speak the languages of your institution’s largest international student populations are crucial connection points. They can help new students build a new social community, and overcome moments of culture shock.听

Meanwhile, technology that gauges student engagement via course logins or missed assignments flags to instructors when a student might be struggling. This enables instructors and student support teams to offer proactive, instead of reactive, care. Instructors can also use tools like to more easily adapt their courses to fit different learning styles, in turn boosting learner engagement and overall student success.

It’s encouraging to see Ireland’s international education sector continue to grow for its fourth straight academic year. Ireland’s excellent education system, welcoming approach to international students, and position as a tech hub within the EU make it an attractive choice for many international students. The 老九品茶 team is proud to support our Irish higher education institution partners in connecting with them.听

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. Unless noted otherwise, dates refer to Ireland’s academic year, which runs from September to May.

2. All data in this article is courtesy of the (HEA). Data methodology changes occurred between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 HEA datasets. So, the data in this article is not directly comparable to our analysis of Ireland鈥檚 international education sector in Dec. 2024. Note that HEA rounds values to the nearest five students.

3. The PIE. “.” July 1, 2025.

4. European Union, “.” February 2025.

5. EducationWeek. “.” October 27, 2025.

6. USA Today. “.” March 9, 2023.

7. Frontiers in Psychiatry. “.” April 15, 2025.

8. National Library of Medicine. “.” January 31, 2021.

9. PLOS One. “.” August 21, 2025.

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In some encouraging news about Canada鈥檚 international education sector, from January to August 2025,¹ 57% of applicants at the bachelor鈥檚 level² were approved for a new Canadian student visa.³ This was 16 percentage points higher than in full-year 2024, and a much higher approval rate than those for other postsecondary levels such as all college programs and postgraduate studies.

Join us as we dive into the resiliency of undergraduate degree approval rates during the first eight months of 2025. How did approval rates for bachelor鈥檚 degrees compare to college and postgraduate programs? Which provinces saw the highest approval rate jumps this year? And how did the top student populations evolve?

University Bachelor鈥檚 Programs Seeing Highest Canadian Postsecondary Approval Rates in 2025

University-level bachelor鈥檚 programs were the only study level to see year-over-year approval rate growth in early 2025, climbing 16 percentage points above full-year 2024:

While postgraduate study permit approval rates dipped slightly this year, the overall resilience of the university sector has been a standout story through the first half of 2025. After a challenging 2024, the 57% approval rate for new university-level bachelor鈥檚 programs marks a return to a level last seen in 2022.

It鈥檚 worth noting that study permit applications for undergraduate level studies have historically had higher approval rates during the January through August period compared to the September through December period. This means that the full-year 2025 approval rates may still dip by a few percentage points. Nevertheless, even with a modest seasonal correction this part of the sector will likely finish well ahead of where it was in 2024, reinforcing the university route as a dependable choice for students planning their future in Canada.

Undergraduate Approval Rates Increased in Nearly Every Province in 2025

Another exciting development about the upswing of new undergraduate approval rates is that it was country-wide. Nine of Canada鈥檚 ten provinces saw an increase in bachelor鈥檚 approval rates compared to 2024:

The most encouraging takeaway for international student advisors is that we鈥檙e not seeing one or two of Canada鈥檚 provinces doing the bulk of the heavy lifting. While British Columbia and Ontario saw the highest approval rates for new undergraduate applicants during the first eight months of 2025, it was Quebec and Alberta who experienced the highest approval rate increase compared to full-year 2024. Their approval rates went up 22 and 13 percentage points respectively.

The data points to a healthy revitalization of regional study options as well. Atlantic Canada, for instance, saw consistent gains across Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. This broad improvement signals that the bachelor鈥檚 degree is performing well across different provincial regulatory environments, allowing partners to diversify their student placements with renewed confidence.

Bachelor鈥檚 Approval Rates Rebounding Across Key Student Populations

Positive momentum at the undergraduate level is also occurring across most of Canada鈥檚 student populations rather than among just a few of the largest ones:

Of the 20 leading student populations for bachelor鈥檚 applicants, 13 saw approval rates improve in the first eight months of 2025 compared to full-year 2024. Established student populations from France, the US, and the UK continue to demonstrate exceptional reliability, with study permit approval rates over 95%.

Perhaps even more encouraging is the upward trajectory seen among key emerging student populations. Student populations from Indonesia, Japan, and Hong Kong remained dependable, with approval rates above 90% and with steady upward trends. Additionally, many that have historically faced more challenging approval environments recorded meaningful growth. The approval rate for Nigerian students improved by 10 percentage points over full-year 2024, while approval rates for Pakistan and Egypt also climbed substantially.

These results suggest that bachelor鈥檚 programs continue to attract genuine students from around the world. As such, international student advisors should approach 2026 with a proactive mindset, ready to connect students with emerging opportunities.

How 老九品茶 Helps International Student Advisors Enhance Student Approval Rates

While the positive developments at the university undergraduate level are exciting to see, it鈥檚 worth taking a step back and looking at the picture as a whole, since not all students want to pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Postgraduate programs are on pace to see approval rates under 50% for the second consecutive year, while college programs are seeing only one in four applicants approved. In total, the overall approval rate for all new postsecondary applicants in Canada was 36% through the first eight months of 2025.

International students who applied through 老九品茶, on the other hand, saw a 63% approval rate for the 2025 intake.⁴ And this stronger performance is country-wide:

Across Canada, 老九品茶 applicants consistently outperformed the provincial averages, with particularly strong advantages in the Prairie and Atlantic provinces. This data shows that expert guidance and quality assurance remain among the most effective tools for navigating today’s approval landscape.

Indeed, earlier this year we explored the top reasons for Canadian study permit refusals in 2024, which found that thousands of potential students were refused due to missing documentation. Our platform proactively mitigates these risks by validating key documents like passports and English test results prior to submission. We also ensure that every application includes a unique statement of purpose and that all supporting documentation is clear and legible.

Complementing these quality controls is our AI-powered matching technology. These tools help to steer prospective students toward programs tailored to their academic journey. Likewise, by leveraging historical data through 老九品茶鈥檚 Canadian Visa Calculator, our platform points partners toward institutions and programs that align best with their students鈥� profiles. This ensures that every study permit application is built on a strong academic foundation, significantly improving the chances of a positive outcome.

A Renewed Pathway for Student Success for 2026

The data from the first eight months of 2025 shows that the Canadian university undergraduate sector has weathered recent shifts and emerged as a pillar of stability. For international student advisors, this resurgence offers a strategic opportunity to rebuild students’ confidence and provide them with the security they are looking for.

We encourage partners to use these findings to guide their recruitment strategies for the upcoming year. By leveraging 老九品茶鈥檚 data-backed insights and quality assurance tools, partners can navigate this evolving landscape with confidence, ensuring their students have the best possible chance of realizing their Canadian education goals.

Interested in increasing your student reach with 老九品茶? to become part of our global network, or connect with your regional representative to learn more about taking student recruitment to the next level.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. All data is sourced from unless otherwise noted. Most recent government data cited in this article spans January to August 2025. All data in this article is for new study permits only.

2. All references to bachelor鈥檚 programs throughout this article refer to university-level bachelor鈥檚 programs only.

3. The terms student visa and study permit are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enrol in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is accepted for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies. In this article, we鈥檒l use the terms interchangeably.

4. 老九品茶鈥檚 study permit approval rates are estimates calculated by the 老九品茶 Data Science team. The calculation is as follows:

Study Permit Approval Rate = Confirmed Study Permit Approvals 梅 (Confirmed Study Permit Approvals + Reported Study Permit Rejections)

Confirmed Study Permit Approval: Applicant has submitted documentary evidence of study permit approval to 老九品茶 and/or has had their enrolment confirmed by the destination institution.

Reported Study Permit Rejection: (a) Applicant has indicated to 老九品茶 that they have been refused a study permit and/or have requested a refund for their tuition deposit due to study permit refusal, and (b) applicant鈥檚 enrolment has not been confirmed by the destination institution.

Note: 老九品茶 applicants do not receive any special treatment from IRCC.

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