Analysis of international student enrolments for courses starting in January 2026

The Chartered ABS has published results from its survey on international student enrolments in UK business schools for courses starting in January 2026 as we continue to monitor the impact of the evolving policy environment on international student recruitment.

The report reveals that the recruitment of international students by UK business schools remains very challenging with the policy changes introduced since 2024 continuing to have an adverse impact. International students are vital to the UK economy with an estimated economic impact of £42bn each year. One-third of all international students in the UK study in a business school.

Key findings from the report include:

A majority of the responding schools saw a decline in enrolments for January 2026 compared to a year ago

• Approximately two-thirds of the schools who responded to the survey saw lower enrolments for international students for courses starting in January 2026, an increase on the 58% who recorded lower enrolments in last year’s survey.

Recruitment of international postgraduate students remains very challenging and the outlook is largely unchanged from January 2025

• 64% of the schools recorded lower enrolments for international students on postgraduate courses starting in January 2026. This is largely unchanged from last year’s survey.

• On a more positive note, the proportion of schools recording an increase in enrolments for international postgraduates was moderately higher than in last year’s survey, showing some divergence amongst our members.

There are indications of more stability in the recruitment of international students for undergraduate courses

• 68% of the schools saw approximately unchanged enrolments of international students for undergraduate courses starting in January 2026, and the proportions seeing a decline in enrolments were significantly lower than in the January 2025 survey.

The impact of the dependents’ visas ban appears to be reduced but is still a negative factor for a majority of schools

• Compared to the January 2025 survey, fewer respondents reported that the ban on dependents’ visas negatively impacted their recruitment for January 2026, but this was still experienced by the majority.

UK business schools continue to provide a diverse offering for courses starting in January and some have expanded their offer

• UK business schools offer a wider variety of Master’s degrees in specialist subjects for January start, whilst continuing to offer generalist courses such as the MBA.

• One-quarter of the responding schools offered new specialist courses for January 2026, including Business Analytics, Sport Management, and Supply Chain Management.

Download the report