Enrolments were especially down of students from “high-risk” markets (i.e., markets where a high level of fraudulent applications or non-compliance with visa rules are expected). More than 8 in 10 universities reported declines from Pakistan, with an average reduction of 75%. Enrolments were also down significantly from India and Bangladesh.

What’s behind the decline?

As we are seeing across the other Big Four countries (Australia, Canada, and the US), visa rejections by the government – as well as anticipated visa rejections on the part of universities – are disproportionately affecting students from the Global South.

In June, the government will introduce a compliance regime in which universities that do not maintain a visa refusal rate of under 4% will be marked “amber” (as opposed to green) and prevented from increasing their international enrolments. This is fuelling many universities to adjust their recruiting in emerging markets. About a third said they had stopped recruiting in some markets and the same proportion said they now ask for higher deposits or conduct more rigorous financial checks.

At the same time, 6 in 10 universities reported that they experienced more visa rejections in January 2026 than in January 2025, and many were concerned about the reasons for this:

• 41% cited unexplained delays or interview scheduling problems;
• Over a third cited less convincing reasons for refusals that were inconsistent with applicant quality.

It is fair to say that genuine students in high-risk markets face discrimination based on their nationality.

It is also fair to say that universities are caught between a rock and a hard place because they are naturally interested in remaining compliant with government rules. When they see the government refusing high numbers of students from some markets, it is a signal that recruiting from those markets may tip them into the upcoming “amber” zone.

BUILA says:

“[We are] urging the Government to use ‘amber’ ratings as an internal warning measure rather than the point at which recruitment sanctions are applied. And [we are] calling for the traffic light system to better distinguish between factors within an institution’s control and those driven by external or systemic issues, such as visa processing delays.”

Chair Andrew Bird adds:

“This survey shows universities narrowing recruitment simply to manage risk, at a time when they are also facing higher refusal rates from UK Visas and Immigration, delays and inconsistent decision-making outside their control.

The UK already operates one of the toughest student visa compliance regimes in the world, and our members fully support protecting its integrity. But the Government keeps shifting the goalposts. The proposed traffic-light system is being implemented far more harshly than originally intended.

If introduced as currently proposed, the new system risks significant reputational damage to our world leading higher education sector. It could deter genuine students from applying and signal a problem to global markets where none exists, at a time when competition for international students is intensifying.”

No choice but to turn to alternative destinations

Consider these statistics about the chances of certain South Asian student being approved for a study visa in a Big Four destination (and note also that in the UK in 2025, the average visa rejection rate was only 12%).

• In 2025, Indian students faced a 61% and 74% rejection rate in and the US, respectively.
  
• Bangladeshi students encounter rejection rates of 51% in Australia so far in 2026, and almost three-quarters (73%) were refused by the US in 2025. In 2025, 36% were rejected by the (up 15 points over 2024).
  
• In February 2026, more than half (53%) of Pakistani students applying to Australia were rejected, as were 71% by the US. In 2025, more than a quarter (26%) were denied a visa by the (up 8 points).
  
• More than 8 in 10 Nepali students were refused in the US in 2025, as were 4 in 10 applying to Australia in February 2026. In 2025, 16% of applications from Nepal were refused in the compared with 2% in 2024.

As we have reported recently, these trends – as well as similar ones for African students – can only prompt a fundamental reshaping of global student mobility away from the Big Four.

For additional background, please see:

• “Narrowing bands of compliance: How the UK’s new RAG system will impact international student recruitment”
• “Visa rejections climb in the US for international students from key markets including India” 
• “Australia: Student visa refusal rates reach record high amid weakening demand from China” 

The post UK: 7 in 10 universities report declining international postgraduate enrolments; visa rejections are part of the story appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The existing structure for student visas in the UK provides an important backdrop for these changes. In brief, to sponsor a student visa, a UK university or school must be a registered student sponsor. This entitles the institution to issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) which is in turn required for the student’s visa application.

The updated published on 7 April 2026 (“Document 2: Sponsorship Duties”) includes a new section that outlines the responsibilities of sponsor-institutions pertaining to education agents.

The updated rules carry two main implications for sponsor-institutions in their work with agents.

First, agency details must now be included on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS): “Sponsors must record agent details on the CAS where the sponsor has used an agent in the recruitment of the sponsored student.”

Second, sponsors must not only commit to the Agent Quality Framework (AQF), but be able to demonstrate that compliance: “All student sponsors using recruitment agents must retain evidence of how they are managing agents in line with the AQF and The National Code of Ethical Practice for UK Education Agents, as applicable to the school, further education, pathway and higher education sectors.”

Agency details on the CAS

Related guidance from outlines the agency details that must now be included in the CAS.

This amounts to:

• Agent company name (the formal legal name as used in the agency contract)
• Agent contact name (indicating the primary agent contract contact)
• Agent address (which refers to the specific office or branch from which the student was recruited)

The Home Office indicates otherwise that this provision applies to all cases in which the sponsoring institution was engaged with an agent on the student file, “even if this is a one-off recruitment and/or the recruitment was done without a formal ongoing contract with the agent or third party.”

In the event that a sub agent was involved with the file, the CAS must provide details of the primary agent (as opposed to the sub agent).

If an agent or advisor was engaged directly by the student for application support or other advisory, and where “that third party was not used by the sponsor as part of the recruitment process,” the agency details need not be included in the CAS.

Moving beyond voluntary compliance

The 7 April guidance effectively enshrines the Agent Quality Framework (AQF) for sponsor-institutions in the UK, a distinct progression from what has essentially been a voluntary compliance regime to this point.

The Home Office sets out that, “All student sponsors using recruitment agents must have committed to adhering to the key principles of the (AQF).”

Further, sponsors are now required to document how they are managing agents in line with the provisions of the AQF and .

What this will mean in practice is not yet clear, but it does set up a requirement for more structured and systemic reporting as to how a sponsor is in compliance with the AQF and The National Code. In broad terms, the provisions of The National Code extend additional reporting and documentation requirements to agents, along with specific training requirements, including completion of the .

Commenting on the updated guidance on , Avinav Sharma, Executive Director, Global Partnerships at MSM Unify, said:

“For agents and counsellors, the message is equally direct. If you have not completed your UK knowledge training and signed the national code of ethical practice, you are operating without the credentials this framework now demands. Your digital badge and certificate are no longer nice-to-haves. They are proof points that your sponsor partners will need to show UKVI…This is the UK government signalling that the recruitment channel will be held to the same compliance standard as the institutions themselves…Is your agency ready for this level of scrutiny?”

For additional background, please see:

• “Narrowing bands of compliance: How the UK’s new RAG system will impact international student recruitment“
• “UK’s stiffening compliance regime already having an impact on international student recruitment“
• “How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training“
• “Who decides about quality? Education agents and the question of increased regulation“

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The guidance includes details of a new red-amber-green (RAG) banding scheme that sets up what could be, as Jim Dickinson wrote on , “a system more punitive than many in the sector were expecting.”

The regulatory background

In order to apply for a student visa for the UK, an international student must first obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) document. Only a sponsor – that is, an educational institution licensed by the Home Office to sponsor international students for visas – may issue a CAS. In effect, the sponsor is vouching for the student-applicant and his/her eligibility to study in the UK.

That sponsor status places a number of obligations on the institution, and particularly that a sponsor must apply for a (BCA) every 12 months.

When UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) carries out the BCA, it currently assesses the sponsor based on the following thresholds for three “core requirements”:

• a visa refusal rate of less than 10%;
• an enrolment rate of at least 90%; and
• a course completion rate of at least 85%.

The linkage between the three is quite explicit: the institution is expected to carefully evaluate each applicant to determine that they are eligible for admission but also, once admitted, will have a high likelihood of following through to take up their spot in their intended programme of study and then go on to successfully complete that programme. In other words, the university or college’s ability to continue to admit international students rests on its ability to recruit qualified, bona fide students that are committed to their intended programme of study.

Sponsor institutions that fall outside of those benchmarks are subject to a variety of sanctions, the most extreme of which could lead to the revocation of the sponsor license – meaning in effect that the institution could no longer admit foreign students.

The new BCA thresholds

A May 2025 UK government immigration white paper set out a number of new requirements for UK institutions, including more stringent compliance thresholds. Specifically, sponsoring institutions must now maintain:

• a visa refusal rate of less than 5%;
• an enrolment rate of at least 95%; and
• a course completion rate of at least 90%.

The draft guidance from the Home Office indicates that the first two of those new compliance benchmarks will come into effect on 1 June 2026. The course completion threshold will remain at 85% until June 2027, at which point it will rise to 90%.

RAG time

The Home Office guidance sets out that, “A sponsor’s performance against the three metrics composing the BCA will be rated in a Red-Amber-Green (RAG) banding system.”

Essentially, sponsors with a red rating are operating at or below one or more of the BCA requirements. An amber rating indicates that the sponsor is in danger of non-compliance with respect to one or more of the key benchmarks, whereas a green rating means that the institution is more comfortably within the compliance threshold.

The margin for error, however, is notably slim across the key BCA metrics. The following table summarises the band ranges for each requirement.

“Look at the width of the amber band – or rather, the near-total absence of it,” says Wonkhe’s Dickinson. “On refusals it’s a single percentage point. On enrolment it’s a single percentage point. On completion it’s two. The amber band is extremely narrow.” In other words, the distance to travel between green and red is very narrow indeed.

The significance of those very tight thresholds is driven home by another key aspect of the RAG system: there is no overall scoring across metrics; rather, the sponsoring institution’s rating will be based on their lowest-rated BCA requirement.

The Home Office guidance sets out that: “The RAG rating system is not an aggregate. A sponsor’s rating shall be determined by their lowest rated metric, which will take precedence over any other metric’s score. For example, if the sponsor falls into the red category for their refusal rate, yet falls into the green category for both their enrolment and completion rates, they will receive a red RAG rating.”

Against the advice of sector stakeholders, including Universities UK, the Home Office also intends to make sponsor ratings public, indicating that “a sponsor’s RAG rating will be published on the student sponsor register.” This provision will apply to the first BCA assessment cycle after 1 June 2026, meaning that public ratings won’t likely be available for a critical mass of UK higher education institutions until spring or summer 2027.

Recruitment impacts

“We welcome stronger compliance in principle, but the cumulative impact on UK recruitment should not be underestimated,” says Peter Skillen, the Director of Governance, Risk, Assurance, and Compliance at Study Group. “What may appear to be a technical tightening on paper could have a real chilling effect in practice. The government’s white paper proposed raising each BCA metric by five percentage points and introducing a new RAG banding system, but the draft guidance appears to go further in the way that framework is operationalised. With narrow amber bands, a lowest-metric-wins approach, and final warnings that can remain active for five future Basic Compliance Assessments, institutions may become increasingly selective in their recruitment behaviour, particularly in emerging markets. The risk is that the system becomes more draconian and overbearing for institutions, compelling them to carry out ever more stringent compliance checks and absorb growing administrative burdens. The unintended consequence may be a UK system that is less accessible to genuine international students, with some institutions deciding that recruitment from certain countries is no longer viable.”

The new BCA compliance thresholds were first announced almost a year ago in the government white paper in May 2025. In the months since, there have been a number of signals that institutions are both anticipating and responding to a more stringent compliance regime.

There is after all a significant exercise of risk management at the heart of the CAS-sponsor-compliance model as the three key BCA metrics rest a great deal of responsibility for student performance and student outcomes with the institution itself.

“The rationale behind the new RAG scheme is hard to argue with: stronger compliance should help ensure universities issue CAS only to genuine, well‑prepared students, protecting educational standards and the UK’s international reputation,” says Diana Beech, the Assistant Vice-President (Policy & Government Affairs) at City St. George’s, University of London.

However, the scheme’s razor‑thin thresholds and ‘lowest‑metric‑wins’ approach are not without risk. With so little margin for normal variation, even responsible institutions could be pushed into the red – and publishing these ratings will only intensify that pressure. The result may be overly cautious recruitment, fewer opportunities for legitimate students, and a narrowing of global engagement.

Enhanced compliance matters. But it needs a framework that is proportionate, supportive, and avoids penalising compliant institutions for factors they cannot fully control.”

Indeed, some institutions are already responding reducing or suspending recruiting activities in countries that are seen to be associated with higher risk. “Higher risk” in this sense being defined as markets where students are more likely to not follow through on their study plans or to complete their programmes of study – often for reasons relating to academic background, language skills, or financial difficulty.

In July 2025, for example, London Metropolitan University said that it would suspend admissions for Bangladeshi students. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Gary Davies has attributed the decision to high rates of visa refusals for Bangladeshi students in particular, which were putting the university’s compliance at risk.

Earlier this month, the University of Derby said that it too would suspend student recruitment from Pakistan and Bangladesh over concerns that visa refusal rates for applicants from the two countries were simply too high.

Other UK institutions have reportedly – although less publicly – made similar decisions to limit or suspend admissions from specific markets and/or for particular fields of study where there is seen to be undue compliance risk.

On their face, any such moves are extreme measures and regrettable in that they limit opportunities for bona fide students from markets that are seen to have high risk levels attached. But they also perfectly illustrate the dilemma that UK universities now face under the new BCA benchmarks. With such narrow RAG bands – a green rating requires, for example, that universities maintain a visa refusal rate under 4% – an individual university must either take additional steps to more fully qualify prospective students before issuing a CAS or they have to limit (or even suspend) recruitment in markets or channels that are judged to have greater compliance risk.

Needless to say, each of those broad courses of action carries significant additional costs – in terms of real expenses, risk, or foregone opportunities – for institutions, partners, and students alike. In the meantime, the Home Office has indicated that it is actively engaged in discussions across the sector around the draft guidance and that final guidance and details for implementation of the more stringent BCA requirements will be published shortly.

For additional background, please see:

• “UK’s stiffening compliance regime already having an impact on international student recruitment“
• “UK sets out new immigration strategy, will reduce Graduate Route work term to 18 months“
• “UK: International student numbers fall for second year, especially in postgraduate programmes“
• “How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training“
• “Who decides about quality? Education agents and the question of increased regulation“

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Nearly three in four international students in Irish universities (74%) come from outside of the European Union. The three leading sending markets – India (20.6%), the United States (13.8%), and China (9.9%) – account for nearly half (44%) of all foreign enrolment in the sector. India and the US are driving the overall growth trend in Ireland, with Indian numbers jumping up 30% year-over-year in 2024/25, and US enrolments moving up 8% over the same period.

Reflecting the pattern we have observed in other major study destinations, Chinese enrolments in Ireland softened last year, easing -.3% from the year before.

The overall growth for 2024/25 was evenly split between undergraduate and post-graduate enrolments, which grew by 9% and 11% respectively. International enrolments in Ireland have historically been more weighted to undergraduate studies. In the years since the pandemic, however, that gap has narrowed and, as of last year, the foreign enrolment base in Ireland is almost perfectly balanced between undergraduates (22,825) and post-graduates (21,710).

Why do students choose Ireland?

A series of interviews conducted by in August 2025 provides a window into why international students choose to study in Ireland.

Some choose Ireland as an English-speaking alternative to the UK, post-Brexit. Others are drawn by the affordability of higher education in Ireland, and some for what they see as a more supportive and safe environment.

Speaking to The Times, Adetunji Adeleke, a doctoral student from Nigeria, said, “At the time, I was deciding between a PhD in the US or Ireland. A conversation with my prospective supervisor changed everything for me. I felt that my supervisor had the necessary skills to supervise my PhD and that she was very interested in my research proposal. I have read about many people dropping out a PhD because they had a bad supervisor, so her enthusiasm and skills swayed my decision.”

Kiran Singh, a master’s student from America, added that she chose to study in Ireland because it was “significantly more affordable compared to similar options in the United States”.

However, the students also shared important cautions regarding the linked issues of costs of living and availability of housing in Ireland, with one American student explaining that rents in Dublin were comparable to those in major American cities, such as Boston or New York.

For additional background, please see:

• “Irish higher education booked another strong year of foreign enrolment growth in 2024“
• “Irish ELT sector sounds note of ‘cautious stability’ for 2024“
• “What if there is no room? The link between student housing and enrolment capacity“

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The Q4 data reveals an overall year-over-year increase from the same quarter in 2024, but an even deeper, long-term drop from pre-COVID volumes. The number of student weeks fell by -21% from Q4 2024 to the last quarter of 2025. Comparing the same quarter from last year to 2019, the declining volume – at -43% – is even more severe.

The bright spot, as has generally been the case over the last several years, is in the junior category. While junior weeks are still down by -35% from the pre-COVID benchmark in Q4 2019, they rose by 5% from Q4 2024 to Q4 2025 on the strength of stronger bookings from Spain and Chile.

The additional chart below reflects the absolute changes in student weeks volumes for each quarter in 2025, compared to the same quarter in 2024 and broken down into the junior and adult categories.

General English programmes remain by far the most popular course type across UK ELT, accounting for 89% of junior bookings and 88% of adult enrolments in the last quarter of 2025.

Saudi Arabia continues to be the leading sending market for UK ELT, followed by Türkiye, Japan, Brazil, South Korea to round out the top five.

Stepping back to look at other important segment characteristics for 2025 as a whole, English UK notes that nearly eight in ten ELT enrolments (77%) during the year came via an agent, and that a similar proportion (78%) were for individual (as opposed to group) bookings.

For additional background, please see:

• “UK ELT reports declining enrolments for first half of 2025“
• “Global ELT volumes dipped in 2024“

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That outlook relies in part on the British Council’s projection that international enrolment in the United States will soften throughout 2026. “The Trump effect is already showing up in the data, with enrolments down by 17,000 in December 2025 from the same month a year prior. This data likely undercounts the full effect…with most of these enrolment decisions having been made before Trump’s re-election in November 2024. The downturn will likely become more apparent in 2026.”

Indeed, new data released this week by the US Department of State reveals that F-1 visa grants fell by -36% in 2025 during the key May-August period. Some of the contributing factors in that decline were the Trump administration’s nearly month-long suspension of visa interviews beginning in May 2025; its revocation of thousands of student visas; and its foreshadowing of key rule changes affecting the duration of student visas and post-study rights for international students.

The report concludes that that weakening demand for study in the US opens up new opportunities to recruit students for UK institutions, and especially “to attract greater numbers of STEM students who typically prefer the USA over the UK.”

The most important growth market

The British Council also sees South Asia as a driver of growth for UK institutions in 2026, both for onshore recruitment and in terms of enrolments in UK transnational education programmes in the region.

The report notes that, “Across South Asia, issuance of UK student visas is on the rise, reversing a downward trend that began in 2023. Through the first three quarters of 2025, the UK issued 26,000 more visas to students from South Asia than in the same period in 2024, far outpacing growth in other regions. In Bangladesh and Nepal, the UK issued roughly twice as many student visas in 2025 than the year before; in Pakistan, issuance of UK student visas is at all-time highs. In India, there remains substantial room for further growth in 2026.”

However, there is also a note of caution around the outlook for South Asia, and a call for “more sustainable engagement strategies” so as not to perpetuate a boom and bust cycle of recruitment in the region, and especially where rapidly rising student numbers might contribute to more restrictive policy in the UK.

Contrasting data points

The British Council’s outlook for the year could be contrasted against some countervailing indicators, including that study visa applications reached a low ebb in January 2026. Only 19,800 students applied for a UK visa that month, the lowest volume in four years.

That dip in application numbers comes on the heels of two consecutive years of declining foreign enrolment in the UK, where student numbers fell by -6% in 2024/25 alone.

Forward-looking data from IDP finds that the UK also has the lowest proportion of students planning to apply within the next six months (when compared to other major destinations). That lagging position is attributed in part to a reduction in the term of the Graduate Route – the post-study work period for eligible foreign graduates in the UK. As of 1 January 2027, the Graduate Route will be reduced from the current two years to 18 months.

Speaking to this week, Rachel MacSween, IDP’s director of partnerships and stakeholder engagement said, “These shifts matter: post‑study employment remains one of the biggest factors in where students choose to study…While we don’t yet have the full picture on applications, we know students are sensitive to visa uncertainty and many are making decisions earlier in the cycle to feel secure.”

For additional background, please see:

• “UK: International student numbers fall for second year, especially in postgraduate programmes“
• “UK’s new international education strategy seeks to build education exports to £40 billion by 2030“
• “UK to implement reduced Graduate Route from January 2027“

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The data comes from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and is based on .

More demand from the US

The survey also revealed the appeal of German institutions’ advanced degrees and research opportunities – particularly from students in the US. Over two-thirds of universities reported more enquiries from students, researchers, and professors in the US. There was no indication of how much of this demand was from American students versus foreign students and researchers living in the country.

DAAD President Dr Joybrato Mukherjee said, “Germany and its universities … are able to attract talented individuals, particularly in the highly sought-after STEM subjects, and offer them excellent study and research conditions.

“We are observing that the environment for students and scientists in the USA has changed, and many of our member universities are reporting increased interest in Germany as a place to study and conduct research from the United States.”

As we reported recently, Germany is among many countries that have reacted to the difficult research environment in the US under President Trump by investing significantly in attracting top American scholars as well as international students impacted by Trump’s policies.

English-taught programmes are a major draw

A key reason for German universities’ draw is the expanding number of English-taught degree programmes (ETPs) they offer. With over 2,400 ETPs, Germany is the second largest provider of these programmes in Europe after Ireland. The DAAD survey found that most institutions intend to develop even more ETPs.

Along with France, Germany is now a top European study destination. Its top markets are:

• India
• China
• ��ü���쾱���
• Iran
• Austria
• Pakistan
• Syria
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Italy

DAAD did not publish public information on growth trends for those markets.

Rising in the ranks of preferred destinations

In 2025, DAAD conducted another survey (called the “BintHo” survey) of 115,000 international students enrolled in over 130 universities, and it revealed that 75% of participants had chosen Germany as their number one destination. The major motivating factors for those students were the “availability of English-language degree programmes, attractive career prospects, and low tuition and living costs.”

The survey found that international students generally feel welcome and satisfied on German university campuses. However, about half of surveyed students said they have experienced occasional events of discrimination off campus, with African, Middle Eastern, and Asian students more likely to report these incidents.

DAAD’s Dr Joybrato Mukherjee cautioned: “Reports of discrimination must serve as a warning to us. Cosmopolitanism and tolerance are essential prerequisites if we want to convince outstanding young people to work for us as doctors, engineers, or AI experts. We are all called upon to stand up against xenophobia and discrimination.”

Other than this finding, however, the survey revealed substantial interest among international students in staying in Germany after their studies. Two-thirds intended to stay, and about half said they intended to seek long-term employment.

For additional background, please see:

• “Foreign recruitment of American students and researchers is intensifying”
• “Many foreign students want to stay in Germany but need more help with the transition to life after study”

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In 2023/24, almost 10,000 more foreign students were enrolled than in the previous year, a +6.5% increase. The proportion of international students in Spanish universities is now 11.5%, rising to 27% and 29% in master’s and doctoral programmes, respectively.

In total, there were 149,280 international enrolments in Spanish universities in 2023/24, 59% in degree programmes and 41% participating in exchanges (with those students coming mostly from Europe).

A public-private tension

There are almost 100 universities in Spain. The 2026 QS World University Rankings place Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Complutense University of Madrid in the top 200. In total, are ranked in the top 500 institutions globally.

Just over half of Spanish universities are public, but significant expansion is happening in the private sector. In the span of a decade, public enrolments have risen by only +2%, in contrast to a +117% increase in private universities. This is a subject of for many Spaniards worried that higher education provision in their country is increasingly a business rather than a public good.

Public universities are and over capacity. In 2024/25, there were nearly twice as many applications for programmes as places available in public universities, which helps to explain why .

Spain’s private universities now host half of all master’s students, are often more expensive, and tend to offer more niche specialisations than public institutions.

While 71% of master’s degrees were delivered by public universities and 29% by private universities in 2024/25, this represents a -6.5% decrease for public universities and a +66% increase for private institutions .

Number of degree-seeking international students rising fast

Spain has for years been the preference for students participating in , but the number of degree-seeking international students choosing Spain is growing fast. In 2023/24, there were +8.7% more foreign students in degree programmes than the previous year. Growth of international degree students is especially pronounced at private universities.

In the 10 years leading up to 2023/24, the number of international undergraduate students in Spanish universities has doubled, and the number of master’s students has tripled. Most foreign undergraduate students come from Europe, while most graduate students travel from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The supply of master’s programmes is growing, and 40% of these are now offered in English, a major draw for students from priority markets such as India and China.

Countries of origin

Italy and Colombia are the top source markets, with each sending over 23,000 students annually. France is close behind, contributing close to 20,000 students. After that, China and the US round out the top five. Spain’s international student population is also very diversified, with thousands of students coming from other Latin American countries such as Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile; from Europe (e.g., Germany, Romania, UK); and Morocco.

Major growth markets are Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and the United States. Notably, Spain-US exchange links have become much more common.

Building the EduBridge to Spain

A clear signal of the Spanish government’s ambition to attract more global talent is the “” initiative.

Launched in September 2025, with another intake in January 2026, it allows students at all academic levels a fast and smooth transfer from studies in the US to studies in Spain. EduBridge to Spain is especially aimed at students impacted by US visa issues.

Jobbatical.com summarises the benefits of the programme:

• Faster validation of existing qualifications
• Simplified academic record transfers
• Accelerated visa processing at Spanish consulates in the US
• Expedited Foreigner Identity Cards (TIE) upon arrival
• Part-time work rights for eligible students (up to 30 hours per week)

Like all international students in Spain, EduBridge students also receive a residence permit that covers the entire length of an academic programme and can obtain a work permit after graduation more easily than in the past (thanks to reforms launched in 2025).

EduBridge stands to help Spain gain market share in Latin America, where it competes for students with the US.

A rising research power

The Spanish government is investing heavily in scientific research and international research collaborations, and it is working to retain top researchers from other countries. A recent example of this is the 2025 call for .

Almost €40 million has been allocated to hiring leading researchers from other countries in their niche areas of specialisation, and more than half of those researchers are from the US.

Again, there is an aspect of seizing the geopolitical moment. Announcing the ATRAE funding, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, said: “This program allows us to have excellent scientists who will contribute to continuing to build a better country for science … Spain is a refuge of democratic values in the face of science cuts by other countries.”

An official release explaining notes:

“For the first time in its three editions, the ATRAE Program has attracted more foreign than national talent, with foreigners now representing 83% of the beneficiaries. It is worth remembering that this latest call included a new feature: additional funding for the incorporation of researchers working in the United States, with an additional 200,000 euros for each project.”

There is an important built-in strategy of retention in the ATREA programme:

“R&D centres and universities commit to offering job security when the three- or four-year period funded by the ATRAE Program ends. The selected researchers will be able to train predoctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, which will lead to an increase in the critical mass at the various centers where they join. They will, therefore, be drivers of talent and attract national and international funding.”

The UK government considers that Spain has “real strengths in energy, biomedical sciences and biotechnology, agriculture and food, materials, ICT, energy and the environment …. Spain is generating advanced applied solutions for the aerospace, renewables, water treatment, rail, biotechnology, industrial machinery, and civil engineering sectors.

Affordability is a draw

A 2025 update from summarises annual study costs for EU international students:

• Bachelor’s degree at a public university: €2,100 to €4,629
• Master’s degree at a public university : €604 to €2,565
• Bachelor’s degree at a private university: €2,400 to €30,000
• Master’s degree at a private university: €1,388 to €105,000

Non-EU/EEA students usually pay higher tuition fees, though not always. MastersPortal.com advises non-EU students to check with individual universities, and it provides for this purpose.

Study in Spain also says that: “In 2025, a single person living in Spain spends around €712 per month on living expenses (about US$850).” This estimate includes food, accommodation, and transportation.

For additional background, please see:

• “Spain moving to expand partnerships and student recruitment in Africa“
• “Canada and the US are losing international student enrolments to Europe and Asia”
• “Search and enrolment data foreshadows international enrolment trends for 2026”

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