Study visa applications see a big fall in the key month of August

Monthly Home Office data shows that there were just under 100,000 main applicant study visa applications in August 2026.

This compares to 120,300 in August 2025, 122,100 in August 2024, 147,200 in August 2023, and 144,200 in August 2022. The latter two years were the height of the international recruitment boom, whereas the former two were post-dependants ban.

This means, essentially, that the drop we’ve seen this year is comparable with that caused by the dependants ban, though it doesn’t have one clear cause – UKVI restrictions, negative publicity about the UK, enhanced international competition, currency fluctuations, and geopolitical turmoil are all probably all playing a part. The question for the sector then is which contributes in what proportion, and which can therefore be turned around or mitigated against.

Here it is, charted. The year-to-August figures don’t really tell the whole story, as September is still an important recruiting month for the subsequent academic year, but they are included too.

These figures only show the picture for (main applicant) applications. Universities are also being more cautious about offers, due to the tightened BCA regime, now in effect. And applications are by no means likely to crystallise into conversions for plenty of other reasons too.

Admissions platform Enroly has today shared some of its latest data, covering the universities it works with. This doesn’t amount to an overall picture of the sector, but indicates that the picture for CAS issuances probably tracks quite closely to change in application volume, though may be even worse.

It finds that CAS issuance across UK universities is down 27 per cent year-on-year for the September intake, with particular falls in students from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Sri Lanka, India, and Nigeria. Business and management as a subject area has seen a drop of more than 45 per cent.