UK universities are facing a dramatic shift in their approach to international student recruitment, especially from Bangladesh and Pakistan, as new Home Office regulations and a spike in visa refusals force institutions to take drastic action. At least nine higher education institutions have either suspended or sharply limited enrolments from these two countries, which have recently been classified as "high-risk" for student visas, according to reports from The Financial Times and other outlets. The decisions, which have left thousands of genuine students stranded or facing last-minute admission freezes, are part of a broader government effort to crack down on alleged visa misuse and reduce net migration.
The University of Chester, for instance, has paused all admissions from Pakistan until autumn 2026, citing what it described as a "recent and unexpected rise in visa refusals." The University of Wolverhampton has stopped accepting undergraduate applicants from both Pakistan and Bangladesh, while the University of East London has suspended recruitment from Pakistan entirely. Other institutions, including Sunderland, Coventry, Hertfordshire, Oxford Brookes, Glasgow Caledonian, and the private provider BPP University, have followed suit—either halting or scaling back admissions from these countries as a risk mitigation strategy.
The catalyst for these sweeping changes came in September 2025, when the UK Home Office revised its Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) thresholds. Under the new rules, universities must ensure that no more than 5 percent of their visa applications are refused, a significant drop from the previous 10 percent threshold. Failure to meet this new standard could result in the loss of a university’s student sponsor licence—a potentially devastating blow for institutions that rely heavily on international tuition fees. The new policy is already having a profound impact: in the year to September 2025, the average refusal rate for student visa applications from Pakistan was 18 percent, and for Bangladesh, a staggering 22 percent. Both figures are well above the new 5 percent limit.
According to Home Office data cited by The Financial Times, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students accounted for nearly half of the 23,036 visa rejections recorded in the year leading up to September 2025. The surge in refusals has been accompanied by a notable increase in asylum claims from nationals of both countries, most of whom had entered the UK on work or study visas. This trend has alarmed government officials, prompting Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle to declare that the student visa system "must not be used as a backdoor" for settlement in Britain.
The University of Sunderland, for its part, made "no apologies" for its decision to take a firm approach, stating that it was necessary "to protect the integrity" of the student visa system. The University of Hertfordshire, placed under an action plan to enforce stricter compliance checks, has suspended recruitment until September 2026, citing "long visa processing times." Glasgow Caledonian University, also under an action plan, paused its September 2025 intake and warned staff that the "stringent" new metrics left them with little choice. Oxford Brookes University, meanwhile, paused recruitment from both countries for undergraduate courses beginning in January 2026, with plans to resume in September.
London Metropolitan University stopped recruiting from Bangladesh over the summer, noting that the country accounted for 60 percent of its visa refusals. BPP University has also temporarily halted recruitment from Pakistan as part of its own risk mitigation strategy. Official estimates from May 2025 suggested that 22 higher education institutions would fail at least one of the tightened BCA criteria, with five potentially losing their sponsorship rights for at least a year—a development that could affect around 12,000 international students.
For many universities, especially those with lower fees, the crackdown presents a "real dilemma," as international recruitment has become a financial lifeline. Vincenzo Raimo, an international higher education consultant, explained to The Financial Times that "even small numbers of problematic cases can threaten universities’ compliance with Home Office thresholds." Jamie Arrowsmith, director at Universities UK International, echoed this sentiment, warning that some institutions will need to diversify their intakes and tighten application and deposit policies to meet the new rules. While acknowledging that stricter regulations "may be challenging" for many universities, Arrowsmith said they are necessary "to maintain public confidence in the system."
The impact on students has been severe and, for many, deeply disappointing. Maryem Abbas, founder of the Lahore-based Edvance Advisors, described the situation as "heartbreaking" for genuine students who see their applications withdrawn at the final stage. She also criticized the role of overseas recruitment agencies, arguing that UK universities "help create incentives" that can lead to spurious applications. "Hundreds of agencies in Pakistan simply do not care where the student goes," Abbas said, calling the sector a "moneymaking business." Critics have long argued that poor oversight of recruitment agents has encouraged visa misuse, and the current crisis has brought this issue into sharper focus.
The Home Office, for its part, has defended the crackdown as both necessary and proportionate. In a statement quoted by The Financial Times, the department said it "strongly values" international students but emphasized the importance of "tightening the rules to ensure those coming here are genuine students and education providers take their responsibilities seriously." The government maintains that the reforms are part of a broader effort to tackle abuse of the system and reduce net migration, which is currently at its lowest level in four years.
Many education advisers and university officials worry that the new restrictions, while intended to protect the system’s integrity, are penalizing thousands of genuine students who have followed all the rules. Some fear that the UK’s reputation as a welcoming destination for international students could suffer lasting damage, especially as other countries compete aggressively for global talent. As universities scramble to adapt—by diversifying their recruitment, tightening vetting, and forging better partnerships with overseas agents—the stakes could hardly be higher for students and institutions alike.
As the dust settles from these sweeping changes, one thing is clear: the landscape of international student recruitment in the UK has been fundamentally altered. Whether the new policies will ultimately succeed in balancing the need for robust immigration controls with the country’s longstanding tradition of academic openness remains to be seen. For now, thousands of hopeful students and the universities that depend on them are left navigating a far more uncertain path to British higher education.
