The number of international students applying for places at UK universities climbed for the second year in a row for those looking to start courses this September.
The increase brings the number of overseas student applications from 114,910 last year to 115,730 this year, and comes in conjunction with a rise in UK-based students also applying for places for the 2024 academic year.
These figures only take into account undergraduate applications for UK universities; however, the majority of students coming to the UK from overseas do so to complete postgraduate courses, such as master’s degrees of PHDs, but these are not included in this data.
It means a potentially busier year for UK universities, which had experienced a decline in overseas student applications in the post-Covid period.
Some of the most popular universities for international students include London School of Economics, with more than half (51.3%) of its students being from abroad; Imperial College London, where 47.2% of students are from overseas; and King’s College London, with 39.1% being international, according to CUG data.
Outside of London, Manchester University is one of the top choices for overseas students, which make up 32.4% of the total, as well as Edinburgh (33%), Coventry (34.6%) and Buckingham (46.2%).
UK government’s lofty targets
The most recent target from the government is to attract as many as 600,000 students from overseas annually to UK universities from 2030, as it says such activity would “play a vital role in supporting the UK economy”. One report stated that a single year group of overseas students could generate £41.9bn in economic benefits during their time in the UK.
According to former universities minister Jo Johnson, overseas students “bring enormous benefits to the UK” and create “huge economic value that enables universities to put on courses that wouldn’t otherwise be offered to domestic students at all”.
The latest application figures reveal that applications from non-EU countries has now reached a record high, with 95,840 international students applying to UK universities this year. There was a 3.3% rise in applicants from China, and a huge 37% increase in applicants from Turkey.
Hong Kong students still keen on UK universities
While there was a decline in the number of Hong Kong students seeking places at UK universities, from 6,400 to 5,130, this could be linked to the fact that some students relocating to the UK could have declared themselves as UK domiciled since the immigration pathway changed with the introduction of British National (Overseas) Visas.
The BN(O) was rolled out by the UK government in 2021 for people living in Hong Kong, and this coincides with a three-year decline in the number of prospective students applying for UK university places from the area.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), which deals with applications to UK higher education institutions, said in a statement to South China Morning Post that Hong Kong students may have declared themselves as UK-domiciled under “area of permanent residence” when they applied.
It added: “It is therefore likely that people from Hong Kong taking up BN(O) status who have then gone on to apply through UCAS may declare themselves as UK domiciled,” it said. “We don’t have specific stats published on this though.”
At the moment, international tuition fees still apply to Hong Kong students, even if they have entered the UK using the BN(O) visa pathway. However, those who gain settled status after spending five years in the UK may be able to secure home fee status, which could drastically reduce the amount being paid.
The latest figures from the UK government show that, as of September 2023, 184,700 people from Hong Kong have been granted BN(O) visas, enabling them to live, work and study in Britain. They can then apply for permanent residency after five years of living in the UK, before applying for citizenship the following year.
