Drop in Gulf student visa applications shows dwindling appetite for UK universities

The number of students from the Gulf choosing to study in the UK has plunged in recent years, most drastically from the UAE, figures show. Student visa application numbers have slumped due to a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uk" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uk">UK </a>migration clampdown that has restricted visas, as well as concerns over social issues, safety and the quality of education in Britain, experts said.

While there was an inevitable drop in numbers caused by the Covid pandemic, these had bounced back by 2022, before the UK began issuing its policies to restrict student visas. The number of student visa applications from the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uae" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uae">UAE </a>then began to drop, falling 59 per cent in the next four years, from 638 in 2022 to 257 students in 2025, Home Office statistics showed.

These covered students who have been offered a place at an institution to study for a bachelor, graduate, PhD or other higher education courses. There was a 36 per cent drop in 2025 alone compared with the previous year. There were 13 per cent fewer applications from students in Saudi Arabia between 2023 and 2025, dropping from 5,814 to 5,049. In Bahrain, a 26 per cent decline has been recorded, from 545 applications in 2023 to 403 in 2025.

Qatar recorded a drop of about 14 per cent between 2023 and 2025, from 1,056 to 910 applications. The outliers are Kuwait, which saw an 11 per cent rise in applications, from 4,499 in 2023 to 5,034 in 2025, and Oman, which grew from 996 to 1,018. Figures for spring and summer visa applications will be released by the Home Office next month and are expected to continue the downward trend. The first quarter of this year showed a decline of almost a third (29.2 per cent) of applications from Saudi students.

UAE applications for the same period remained steady, moving from 16 in the first three months of 2025 to 15 in the same period of 2026. Professionals in the higher education sector have warned the numbers could keep <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/11/21/uk-immigration-settlement-rules-strict-quotas-visa-fees/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/11/21/uk-immigration-settlement-rules-strict-quotas-visa-fees/">declining</a> as UK immigration restrictions make studying in the country less appealing.

Many students regard a degree in the UK as an investment towards a career in the country. But from next year, students will have only 18 months to find a job in the UK after their graduation, compared to the previous allowance of two years. This follows increases to the Immigration Health Surcharge and student visa fees, and a higher chance of visa refusal. The general salary threshold for skilled workers' visas is also set to rise, with the discount for graduates removed, according the Labour government's White Paper on Immigration.

The UK government was criticised this week for removing incentives for overseas students to pursue a degree course at a British university. “Given politicians have found it much easier to control clearly defined legal migration routes, such as coming to the UK to study, than to get a grip on other routes, such as the infamous small boats, the factors pulling international students to come and study in the UK have been trimmed back again,” wrote Nick Hillman, chief executive of the Higher Education Policy Institution in an analysis.

This is compounded by financial penalties for universities that award spaces to students whose visa applications are later rejected. This has reportedly led to institutions withdrawing their offers to would-be students, mainly from India, China and Nigeria, to avoid paying any penalty should their visa applications be unsuccessful<i>.</i> For Gulf students, other factors such as safety concerns could also be fuelling the decline. A Saudi student was killed last year in a knife attack in Cambridge while studying an English language course, prompting his uncle to say the UK was “rapidly losing its global reputation”.

There are also fears of radicalisation on campuses. The UAE – which has urged western governments to ban the Muslim Brotherhood organisation – was reported by the <i>Financial Times</i> this year to have scrapped its state-funded scholarships to some British universities. The UK government introduced new measures to protect students from extremism on campus this year. This includes supporting universities to carry out appropriate risk checks where free speech crosses into unlawful activity or support for terrorism.