UKVI Increase Maintenance Cost for International Students.
International Education Strategy
The UK Government’s International Education Strategy outlines its goals to:
- increase the value of education exports to £35 billion per year by 2030
- increase the total number of international students choosing to study in the UK higher education system (universities, further education colleges, and alternative providers) to 600,000 by 2030.
For the first time in 2020/21, the latter goal was achieved, with 605,130 international higher education students studying in the UK.
International Students Maintenance Increase
The maintenance requirement for student applicants is to show that they have enough funds to support themselves for each month of their course, for up to nine months. This requirement was originally aligned with the maintenance loans available for home students but has not been updated for international students since 2020.
We are planning to increase the maintenance requirement for international students to match the maintenance loans available for home students for the 2024-25 academic year. We will also make sure it aligns with home students’ maintenance loans in the future.
Currently, the maintenance level is set at £1334 per month for students in London and £1023 for those outside London. This is being changed to £1483 and £1136, respectively.
This change will be effective for students applying for a visa on or after 2 January 2025. The current maintenance levels will remain unchanged until that date.
We have increased the maximum amount for the accommodation offset to align with the changes to the maintenance requirement. The accommodation offset enables students to show less maintenance funds if they have already paid a deposit for their accommodation in the UK.
The maximum offset is now limited to one month’s maintenance, which is currently £1334. This aligns with the higher funds level for students in London, which will increase to £1483 from 2 January.
We are currently reviewing the maintenance levels set for student dependents, and we will provide an update on this soon.
Overseas Student Numbers
In the academic year 2021/22, UK universities hosted a record number of international students, with over 679,970 students from overseas. Among them, 120,140 were from the EU, and 559,825 were from other parts of the world. This marked the ninth consecutive year of setting a new record, representing an increase of 37% or 184,000 students over the span of three years. This latest total accounted for 24% of the entire student population.
In 2017/18, the number of new overseas entrants to UK universities was approximately 254,000. Over the last four years, the number of overseas entrants increased, reaching a new high of 381,700 in 2020/21.
The leading countries sending overseas students to the UK have changed in recent years
- China sent over 97,000 students in 2020/21, marking an 87% increase since 2011/12, despite a decrease in 2020/21.
- The number of students from India and Nigeria has grown rapidly. There were 17,800 students from India in 2018/19, which rose to 87,000 in 2021/22, and 5,500 students from Nigeria in 2018/19, which increased to 32,900 over the same period.
- Since 2016/17, there has been a decline in students from EU countries, which previously sent a significant number of students to the UK. The number from Romania has fallen by 70%, Poland by 66%, Greece by 66%, Cyprus by 58%, Germany by 52%, and Italy by 51%.
The release of comprehensive student data for the academic year 2022/23 has been postponed. Other data indicates a significant increase in the number of international students in 2022, but there are some indications of a decline in 2023 and early 2024.
The number of student visas issued reached a new high of approximately 484,000 in 2022 before decreasing by 5% in 2023. Information from an international student enrollment platform suggests that there was a one-third decrease in postgraduate student enrollment in January 2024.
Summary
In recent years, the UK has been the second most popular global destination for international students, following the US. In 2019, it fell to third place after being overtaken by Australia but returned to second place in 2021 and 2022.
Other English-speaking countries, like New Zealand and Canada, are also experiencing significant growth in their numbers of overseas students. Additionally, European countries are increasingly providing courses in English and attracting more international students as a result.
