UK universities are increasingly shutting their doors to applicants from Pakistan and Bangladesh, citing soaring visa refusal rates and tightened Home Office requirements.
At least nine higher education institutions have imposed restrictions, leaving thousands of genuine students stranded and the international education sector under pressure.
Multiple UK universities have moved to halt or limit applications from students in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which Home Office officials classify as “high-risk” due to increased visa scrutiny. Institutions say the shift follows growing fears of visa abuse, rising asylum claims, and new compliance thresholds that carry severe consequences for sponsors, as per a report by the Financial Times.
The developments come after border security minister Dame Angela Eagle warned that the student route “must not be used as a backdoor” to settlement in Britain.
Chester, Wolverhampton, UEL, Sunderland, Coventry suspend recruitment
Among the earliest institutions to act was the University of Chester, which suspended recruitment from Pakistan until autumn 2026 after experiencing 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 also paused recruitment from Pakistan.
The University of Sunderland and Coventry University have suspended recruitment from the two countries as well. Sunderland said it made “no apologies” for taking a firm stance to protect the integrity of the student visa system.
Home Office reforms trigger widespread sector anxiety
Earlier this year, the Home Office introduced changes to the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) — the system universities must satisfy to retain their student sponsor licences. Under the new rules, effective September, UK institutions must ensure visa refusal rates do not exceed 5%, down from 10%.
The challenge is steep: Pakistan’s average student visa refusal rate reached 18% in the year to September 2025, while Bangladesh’s refusal rate stood even higher at 22%.
Together, both countries accounted for half of the 23,036 visa refusals recorded by the Home Office during the same period.
Asylum claims from Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals have also increased, mostly among individuals who initially entered the UK on work or study visas.
International higher education consultant Vincenzo Raimo called the new environment a “real dilemma” for lower-fee universities heavily dependent on overseas enrolments. Even “small numbers of problematic cases,” he said, could threaten an institution’s ability to comply.
More universities implement pauses
Several other institutions have introduced additional restrictions:
- University of Hertfordshire, currently under a Home Office-mandated action plan, has suspended recruitment from Pakistan and Bangladesh until September 2026, citing long visa processing delays.
- Glasgow Caledonian University, also under an action plan, told staff it needed to make “temporary changes” to its intake for September, saying that “doing nothing is not an option”. Recruitment was paused for some programmes but later reinstated for January courses.
- Oxford Brookes University has paused applications from Pakistan and Bangladesh for undergraduate courses starting January 2026, referencing visa processing times. It expects to resume recruitment for September 2026.
- BPP University has temporarily halted recruitment from Pakistan as part of a “risk mitigation” strategy.
- London Metropolitan University confirmed over the summer that it had stopped recruiting from Bangladesh, noting that the country accounted for 60% of its visa refusals.
Students, education agents express rising frustration
In Pakistan, the impact has been swift and distressing. Maryem Abbas, founder of Lahore-based Edvance Advisors, described the situation as “heartbreaking” for legitimate students whose applications were withdrawn at the final stage, Financial Times reported.
She accused UK universities of contributing to the problem by relying on unscrutinised overseas recruitment agents. Many agencies, she said, “don’t really care about where the student goes,” calling the sector a “moneymaking business”.
Sector-wide fallout expected
Official estimates from May indicate that 22 higher education institutions would fail at least one of the tightened BCA criteria. While 17 may still manage to maintain compliance, five institutions risk losing sponsorship rights for at least a year, potentially cutting 12,000 international students from UK enrolment figures.
Jamie Arrowsmith, director at Universities UK International, acknowledged that the changes “may be challenging” for many institutions. He said universities must diversify their intakes and strengthen application checks and deposit policies to remain compliant.
Home Office defends crackdown
The Home Office insisted it “strongly values” international students but stressed the need for stricter oversight.
“We’re tightening the rules to ensure those coming here are genuine students and education providers take their responsibilities seriously,” a spokesperson said.
