The UK Home Office statistics indicate a 13 per cent rise in sponsored study visa applications during January 2025 when compared to the equivalent month of 2024, with 28,700 applications being lodged. This also reflects a seven per cent rise on January 2023 levels.
The rebound is from a earlier decline prompted by 2024 rules that excluded the majority of dependents of international students from joining them. As a whole, study visa applications have increased, but those for dependents remain low at 2,300 in January 2025, lower than the 3,400 recorded in January 2024 and well off the 17,500 posted in January 2023.
This is the first year-on-year monthly rise in study visa applications since October 2023. Still, though there was a recent spurt, the overall number of applications for the 12 months ending January 2025 stood at 4,11,100, a 13 per cent fall from last year. Dependents’ applications fell by 84 per cent between the same months. This is the first year-on-year monthly rise in study visa applications since October 2023. Nevertheless, even with the recent surge, the number of applications for the 12 months ended January 2025 was 4,11,100, a 13 per cent fall from the last year. Applications by dependents fell by 84 per cent in the same period.
