In response to UCAS knowledge launched right this moment to coincide with A-level outcomes day, the variety of worldwide college students accepted to UK establishments has risen to 52,640 – up 2.9% on 2024 when this determine stood at 51,170.
In only a 12 months, the variety of college students from China accepted into college by way of the UCAS system went up a whopping 13% – with a complete of 12,380 acceptances.
In the meantime, 2025 has confirmed to be a 12 months of success for home college students within the UK – with 28.3% of all grades being A or A* for college kids throughout England, Wales and Northern Eire, in accordance with the BBC.
Commenting on the numbers, UCAS chief govt Jo Saxton identified the massive achievement of this 12 months’s college students, whose training was hit onerous by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This 12 months’s college students had been simply 13 when the pandemic hit, and their secondary education was turned the wrong way up,” she mentioned. “It’s nice to see these candidates securing a college place in file numbers, searching for extra training and investing of their futures. I’m equally delighted to see how universities throughout the nation have responded to their ambition.”
Undergraduate worldwide college students have additionally discovered success this 12 months regardless of some universities prioritising home college students because of a give attention to monetary stability.
In response to a current BBC article, Saxton defined that some UK universities had been focussing on enrolling home undergraduates due to “uncertainty” round worldwide college students.
She additionally identified that some establishments may settle for a larger variety of home college students this 12 months even when they didn’t meet the precise situations of their provide as a result of providing locations to UK college students, versus worldwide college students, was extra prone to lead to monetary stability for the establishment.
It’s nice to see these candidates securing a college place in file numbers, searching for extra training and investing of their futures
Jo Saxton, UCAS
It comes amid a turbulent time for the worldwide training sector within the UK – with upcoming compliance adjustments forcing some universities to cease recruiting for sure programs or from some international locations moderately than danger falling foul of tightened BCA metrics.
Many UK universities are at the moment dealing with monetary difficulties, with round 4 in 10 universities at the moment at a deficit, in accordance with a report by the Workplace for College students.
Of the programs chosen by college students, the most well-liked within the UK this 12 months had been Engineering and Expertise, up 12.5% from final 12 months at 30,020 acceptances, Arithmetic with 9,220 acceptances and Legislation with 27,150.
