Global Education Trends 2024: UK, Canada, and Australia Losing International Students

A recent study by Studyportals has indicated the interest of international students with regard to studying in these conventional destinations, including the UK, Canada, and Australia. The report, called “Winners & Losers: An update on how domestic policies in the UK, Canada, and Australia have impacted student search behaviour,” shows how domestic policies are in fact making the UK, Canada, and Australia less attractive for prospective students. The blog attempts to draw out the reasons behind this and what it might actually mean for international education.

The Decline in Interest: What the Data Shows

The first trend that arises from the Studyportals data is new interest in the on-campus bachelor and master programs in Canada and the UK, with start dates in January 2024, attaining a positive correction. Yet it fell quite spectacularly in February, a development that came up stronger in Canada and started falling further in March. After a small positive correction, the overall trend from February through July 2024 was decreasing. There was also a decrease relative to Australia, although a decrease in Australia was less than in the UK and Canada.

The UK, Australia, and Canada witnessed drops in student interest by 25.8%, 25.1%, and 17.6%, respectively, by July 21, 2024, compared to the first week of the year. This is spurred by ever-constricting immigration policies that make studying in these locations both less practical and less appealing.

A dip in the interest of international students in the UK, Canada, and Australia is directly related to the immigration policies of these countries. In the case of the UK, the policies initiated by the previous Conservative government headed by Rishi Sunak badly hit the chances of international students bringing dependents along. Apart from this, the Sunak government was mulling over a cap on the Graduate Route, which provides an opportunity for international students to stay in the UK for two to three years and work.

Institutions in Canada are struggling to cope with a continuing decline in demand from important markets, including India and Iran. Demand from Indian students is reported to have fallen 24.5%, while from Iranian students, it fell 15.5%. Much of this is related to Canada’s ever-tightening visa stringencies and the impression that requesting permanent residency is too difficult to secure after one graduates.

Interest has been declining in Australia from countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. However, like in Canada, this decline has been steeper in the UK. More importantly, there has been an increase in both demand for admission to higher education in Australia from the markets of “Bangladesh” (32. and nd India (10.; University of Cambridge. This again shows that some markets are demanding more than they are thought to be.

Though all this has an overall negative trend, it would seem that the UK is the exemption for this.

Studyportals has shown a sudden, recent soaring demand for study programs in the UK on the back of developing optimism about the outcome of the UK polls. Many stakeholders in international education and the overseas students themselves hope that the new Labour government may be less stringent with its immigration policies and may repeal many of the measures initiated by the earlier Conservative government.

Perhaps this optimism may reverse the dwindling interest of international students in the UK, but only if the reinvigorated government takes strides to come across as a country that is more welcoming towards international students.

The Struggle Continues: Implications for Global Education

This declining interest of international students in traditional study destinations like the UK, Canada, and Australia has grave consequences for global education. These countries have conventionally been regarded as among the finest locations to pursue higher studies for these students globally. However, their extremely stringent immigration policies deter students from going to them.

This shift could result in a redistribution of international students, meaning other countries, for example, the United States, are benefiting from the decline in the popularity of the UK, Canada, and Australia. The report noted that the increased pageviews for US study programs were up by 32.4%, showing the possibility of more students looking at the US as a serious alternative.