Number of Nigeria students in UK universities expands dramatically post-pandemic

NIGERIAN students have become the third largest foreign group in the UK behind India and China after a seismic 686% increase in the number of enrolments over the last three years following the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Home Office figures reveal 65,929 Nigerian nationals were granted a sponsored study visa in the year ending June 2022. This represents a rise of 57,545 compared with 2019, when 8,384 such visas were given.

Overall, international student numbers in the UK have risen by 71% over that period, with 486,868 student visas granted to main applicants and their dependents in the year up to June, some 202,147 more than in 2019. A Home Office spokesman said this is the highest number on record, with the substantial increase representing both a recovery from lower numbers during the Covid-19 pandemic but also an increase on the pre-pandemic period.

There were 117,965 grants to Indian nationals this year, an increase of 215% compared with  2019, while Chinese nationals were the second most common nationality with 115,056 visas granted, albeit 4% lower than in 2019. Non-Russell group universities now make up 56% of all Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (Cas) used in study visa applications, the highest proportion seen since the sponsorship time series began in 2010.

Clare Marchant, the head of student processing group (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), has said more students from Nigeria, Ghana and Vietnam should be recruited, amid a row about international admissions. She said she was working with vice-chancellors across the country to improve take-up among the three countries.

Ms Marchant said: "There is a significant Chinese presence in that international market. However, it might be good to see in five years' time that it is more balanced with other parts of the world."

Unlike fees for home students, which are capped at £9,250, international scholars now pay almost three times that amount, with the average being about £24,000.  Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: "It's good that our universities take students from all around the world.

"But it's important that we keep recruitment from abroad within bounds so British universities are fully developing British talent. Since overseas students pay higher fees, there is always the risk that this benefit will outweigh the importance of developing British talent."