Russell Group warns over slowing international student intake
The Russell Group of leading UK research universities has warned ministers that a 9% year-on-year decline in non-EU applications for September 2026 entry will leave several of its members "structurally unable" to balance their budgets without intervention.
UCAS data published this week showed the largest fall in applications from outside the European Union since the post-pandemic rebound. The drop is sharpest in postgraduate taught programmes, where international fee income has been the dominant source of cross-subsidy for domestic teaching and research.
Russell Group chief executive Tim Bradshaw said the figures should "remove any doubt" that the current funding model was no longer working. Domestic undergraduate fees have been effectively frozen in cash terms since 2017, with the recent partial uplift offset by inflation and higher pension contributions.
Where the pressure is greatest
- Postgraduate taught business and management: applications down 14%
- Engineering and computer science: down 11%
- Health and life sciences: down 6%
- Undergraduate medicine: broadly flat
- Undergraduate arts and humanities: down 4%
Applications from India and Nigeria are the largest contributors to the fall, with applicants citing a combination of tighter post-study work rules in earlier years, the high cost of living in UK cities and stronger competition from universities in Canada, Ireland and Australia.
What universities are asking for
The sector wants the Government to confirm the multi-year domestic fee trajectory it set out at the last Budget, rather than revisit it. It is also pressing for a more predictable graduate visa route and a faster decision-making cycle on student visa applications, which slipped from 8 to 14 working days during the last admissions cycle.
The Department for Education said it recognised the financial pressures facing the sector and would respond formally once the Office for Students has completed its annual financial sustainability report, expected in early autumn.
Several large universities have already announced quiet hiring freezes and have begun consulting on voluntary severance schemes. The University and College Union said it expected formal redundancy processes at "a meaningful number" of institutions before Christmas.
