Lower-ranked UK universities fight to fill places after drop in overseas applicants

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The UK’s lower-ranked universities are battling to fill places after a decline in overseas applicants led to increased competition to secure domestic students, data from the university admissions service indicated on Thursday.

The race to secure students paying the maximum annual domestic fee of £9,250 emerged as this year’s A-level, BTec and T-Level results were published amid mounting concern over the financial stability of some parts of the higher education sector. 

Figures published by Ucas before results were released showed 123,130 domestic students had accepted places from autumn 2024 at the lowest tier of universities — a 1.4 per cent fall compared with last year. The number of UK applicants accepted to the top-ranking institutions increased 9.3 per cent compared with last year to 127,210.

The data reflects a rise in UK admissions to higher-ranking universities after a sharp decline in international recruitment following changes to visa rules and hostile rhetoric around student immigration from the previous Conservative government.

The competition to attract domestic students is expected to add to pressure on some lower-ranked universities, many of which are already under financial strain.

The sector is struggling to cope with the fallout from a near 50 per cent fall in applications from overseas postgraduate students last year. They typically pay £20,000-£30,000 a year and have become a vital source of income. 

University leaders have warned that a handful of institutions are on the brink of bankruptcy and have called on the Labour government to take steps to stabilise the sector, where domestic tuition fees have been in effect frozen for the last decade. 

With higher-ranked universities able to attract domestic students more easily, the sector has warned that lower-ranked institutions risk being squeezed in the rush to secure acceptances from as many domestic students as possible.

Rachel Hewitt, chief executive of MillionPlus, which represents former polytechnics and vocational colleges that became universities in 1992, said simply encouraging more international students back to study in the UK would still not address the sector’s structural financial challenges.

“While mitigating falls in international student numbers will go some way to help to stabilise finances, it will not be a magic bullet for an unsustainable funding model. Finding one is imperative, so we would urge the government to urgently establish a task force to this end,” she said.

Hewitt added that preserving post-92 institutions, which often serve less advantaged communities and student population, was also vital for preserving “the pipeline of skills our economy and public services need”.

Addressing Britain’s “skills gap” and fixing “broken” public services are a key part of the government’s five growth missions. But education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said the government has “no plans” to increase fees and has ruled out financial bailouts for insolvent universities. 

Meanwhile the Office for Students, the sector regulator, has offered a contract of up to £4mn for professional services firms to help restructure or liquidate in anticipation of possible insolvencies. 

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, the main sector lobby group, said universities were already taking steps to balance their books. She said more than 50 were making cuts and redundancies but that all were facing factors beyond their control.

UUK has called on ministers to allow the £9,250 tuition fee to rise with inflation, improve maintenance support for students and provide “transformation funding” to enable struggling universities to restructure. 

“University leaders and government must work together to ensure one of the UK’s greatest assets can continue to deliver for the country,” she said.