UK universities withdraw admission offers to Nigerians over visa crackdown

Several universities in the United Kingdom have withdrawn admission offers to Nigerian students amid tougher visa rules and a sharp rise in study visa refusals.

The move has left prospective students facing uncertainty after securing places at British institutions, as universities seek to protect their licences to recruit international students.

A Financial Times report, published on Saturday, said 10.5 per cent of UK study visa applications were withdrawn in the first half of 2026, compared with 2.3 per cent during the same period in 2025 and 0.4 per cent in 2023.

Nigerian applicants were particularly affected, with the proportion of study visa applications withdrawn rising to 22.7 per cent in the first six months of 2026, from 4.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The withdrawals followed a doubling of study visa refusals by the UK Home Office during the first half of the year. Universities reportedly began pulling back admission offers to avoid breaching a new five per cent visa refusal threshold that could put their international recruitment rights at risk.

The British government has tightened scrutiny of student visa applications amid concerns that some applicants may be using the route to enter the country before seeking asylum. The policy has increased pressure on universities to demonstrate that their international recruitment meets immigration requirements.

Data from visa processing firm Enroly showed that nearly half of UK universities had refusal rates above the five per cent threshold, raising concerns about possible restrictions on overseas recruitment.

University of Sunderland Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell said some institutions had been forced to withdraw from international markets facing tougher visa scrutiny.

“This has involved pulling back from international markets where a tougher approach is being taken to visa applications,” he said.

Vanessa Wilson, chief executive of University Alliance, which represents 20 professional and technical universities, warned that the impact could extend beyond prospective students to university staff and academic programmes.

“This is going to result in restructures, which inevitably result in job losses, course closures, campus closures,” she said. UK universities withdraw admission offers to Nigerians over visa crackdown