The number of overseas students claiming asylum in the UK has fallen in the past year but still remains at historically high levels, new figures reveal.

New show that a record 110,051 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending September 2025 – 13 per cent more than the previous year and above the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002.

The 51�Թ� Office said this was due to a large number of people fleeing persecution from countries with conflicts and political instability, such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.

Of these arrivals, 41,461 people had entered the UK on a visa or other form of leave, with a third of them (14,243) originally on student visas.

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This was 15 per cent below the peak of the previous year but more than double that of three years ago. The number of students claiming asylum represents 13 per cent of the total – slightly more than those on work visas (12 per cent) and visitor visas (8 per cent).

Of those claiming asylum from student visas in the past year, 40 per cent were from Pakistan, 17 per cent from India and 12 per cent from Bangladesh.

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The Labour government has recently pledged to “clamp down” on international students claiming asylum at the end of their studies as part of efforts to address high levels of immigration. It has recently announced that refugees granted asylum will receive shorter leave to remain and face a longer path to settlement.

The Starmer administration is also set to introduce a new levy on international student fees, and cut the length of time students can stay on graduate visas.

51�Թ� secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the  released by the Office for National Statistics which showed that net migration to the UK fell in the 12 months to June as a result of large falls from the number of people from outside the European Union arriving for work and study.

But show that 439,924 sponsored study-related visas were issued in the year ending September 2025. This was up slightly on the previous year but well below the peak year of 2023 when almost 640,000 were granted.

A record 95.4 per cent of the visas issued this year were to main applicants. The number issued to students was a 7 per cent rise on the year before.

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Less than 5 per cent of study-related visas went to dependants – down from 24 per cent in the 12 months to September 2023. The number of visas issued to family members of students has fallen dramatically since restrictions were introduced in January 2024.

There were significant falls in the number of dependant visas issued to people from Nigeria (57 per cent less), Pakistan (65 per cent less) and India (81 per cent less).

Despite this fall in visas for family members, India remains the largest provider of sponsored-study related visas to the UK – making up 101,229 (23 per cent) of the total.

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The total number of visas granted to Chinese applicants fell by 15 per cent – the largest annual drop outside of Covid-19 pandemic years on record. Total visa levels for Chinese students and their family members have fallen by a third since 2021.

Together, India and China make up 43 per cent of all visas – the lowest level since 2016.

Elsewhere, there was continued growth from the emerging market of Nepal which is now the UK’s fifth biggest source country. Study visas granted to people from Nepal almost doubled in the past year.

There was also slightly more demand from Pakistan, as well as Nigeria (5 per cent), the US (8 per cent) and Bangladesh (81 per cent).

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com