In the first three months of 2024 (January, February, March), the latest data from the UK Home Office shows that 40,700 “sponsored study” visa applications were filed by international students, compared with 72,800 in the same period in 2023 – amounting to a 44% decrease overall.
The main driver of the decline is a dramatic fall-off in
applications for accompanying dependants. In 2023, there were 39,900 “main
applicant” submissions for study visas and 32,900 dependant applications. By
comparison, in the same time frame in 2024, there were 34,000 submissions from
“main applicants” (-15% from 2023) and only 6,700 for dependants (-80%).
Leaving aside dependant-applicants for a moment, this means that
the volume of applications for “main applicants” has declined by just over -27%
over the last two years.
The chart below shows the spike in applications from both main applicants and dependants in the months just after the May 2023 announcement of the ban on dependants (other than those attached to students pursuing post-graduate research degrees). The volume of applications then began to fall in September 2023. The “main applicants” volume picked up again in October-December 2023, but not to the same level as in those months in 2022. Dependants’ applications continued to decline through March 2024.
