Nigerians Among Foreign Students Losing UK University Offers

British universities are withdrawing admission offers to overseas applicants, with Nigerians and Pakistanis among the most affected, as a sharp rise in student visa refusals threatens institutions’ ability to recruit internationally.

Data analysed by the Financial Times from the Home Office shows that 22.7 percent of study visa applications from Nigerians were withdrawn between January and June 2026, compared with 4.5 percent in the same period of 2025.

Pakistani applicants saw withdrawals jump from 3 percent to 40.9 percent, while Bangladesh rose from 7.1 percent to 23.5 percent.

Across all nationalities, withdrawals reached 10.5 percent in the first half of 2026, up from 2.3 percent a year earlier.

The withdrawals come largely from a doubling of student visa refusals in the first six months of 2026 and from rules that place universities at risk of losing their sponsor licences if more than five percent of offer-holders have visa applications rejected.

About 15 universities are believed to have paused recruitment from Pakistan this year. Figures from visa-processing firm Enroly indicate that refusal rates at nearly half of universities are above the five percent limit.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of the University of Sunderland, said, “The recent and unexpected spike in visa refusals has prompted pre-emptive action in several universities. This has involved pulling back from international markets where a tougher approach is being taken to visa applications.”

Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, said, “Visa processing has become markedly less predictable.”

“Many refusals appear to rest on flawed, inconsistent and highly subjective reasoning, forcing universities to withdraw offers at scale to avoid breaching compliance thresholds,” he added.

Some institutions have questioned the basis for individual refusals. Professor Steven McGuire, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said his university began withdrawing offers from certain countries late last year after a steep rise in rejections.

“We were getting some very arbitrary and ill-informed refusals,” he said. “We had one where the interviewer did not seem to understand that UEA was in Norwich.”

McGuire said the policy could push universities to focus more on China and India, where refusal rates are lower, adding that institutions were “running out of options except a very significant resizing of the sector.”