Record Number of International Students Applying to UK

According to figures from UCAS’s January deadline, despite a 1% decline in UK applicants, a 9% increase from non-EU candidates meant the total went up for the first time in three years. The number of applicants from the EU was shown to have increased by 1% to 43,890, while a record number of applicants from outside the EU was received – 63,690 applied to study in the UK.

China has the largest cohort of non-EU applications to UK universities, with the figure rising by a third this year, up from 11,920 to 15,880. Combined with applications from Hong Kong (5,100), the total is 20,980 applications – surpassing the number from Wales (18,850) and Northern Ireland (17,910) this year.