The UK-based firm, specializing in student recruitment and engagement, analyzed more than 40,000 international student applications to find a 31% rise in firm acceptances in January 2025 compared to the same time in 2024.
The uptick was driven in large part by MBA and business master's students, with UniQuest highlighting that demand increased “most steeply” for business and management postgraduate courses, which saw a 17% year-on-year increase in firm acceptances.
“For January intakes, the majority of courses open for recruitment tend to sit within business and management postgraduate areas, which matches demand from the key recruitment markets,” said Jennifer Parsons, chief market and partnerships officer at UniQuest.
The high number of 2025 acceptances for business and management postgraduate courses was “closely followed” by computing postgraduate courses, particularly in areas like AI and data science, according to Parsons.
“In January 2024, demand for these subject areas was hit due to market conditions in India and Nigeria in particular, whereas in 2025 we are seeing a resurgence of interest from India, alongside other South Asian markets,” Parsons said.
She noted that 2024, by contrast, “was a challenging year due to a combination of domestic policy changes… and difficult socio-economic contexts in some of the top recruiting countries, such as the collapse of the Nigerian Naira.”
Study in UK: ‘strong start for higher education’ in 2025
UniQuest called the rise in acceptances a ‘resurgence in interest’ and a “strong start for higher education” in the UK in 2025, following a year marred by policy changes and new visa restrictions for international students which created challenges for the British education sector.
In 2024, UK business schools experienced “significant” declines in international applications after visa changes restricted international students from bringing their dependents to the country while they study.
An October survey of business school deans from across the UK found that 90% of deans said applications from outside the European Union had dropped, with 70% reporting they had experienced a ‘significant’ decrease in applications from non-EU students.
However, other countries that are popular among English-speaking international students have also increased regulation on student visas in recent months, which appears to have shifted the landscape once again.
For example, Canada drastically cut the number of new international study permits it will issue, with the total cap on those visas reduced by a further 10% for 2025 and 2026.
Meanwhile, the Australian government introduced a steep hike in international student visa application fees and moved to further regulate how student visa applications are processed.
“Policy changes in competitor recruiting markets are creating an increase in demand for the UK. The introduction, and extension of, caps in Canada coupled with an increasingly complex picture for Australia mean that the UK looks like a more welcoming environment,” Parsons said. “That is undoubtedly driving some of the growth the UK is experiencing as key markets once again look towards us, but institutions are also in control of this change.
“We’ve seen faster speed of offers made this year, which clearly correlates with volume of firm acceptances,” she added.
July 2024 saw another win for the UK higher education sector as the Labour government confirmed it will maintain the popular Graduate Route two-year visa, which had previously come under fire.
