UK universities are increasingly revoking admission offers to international students, including those from Bangladesh, as a UK government visa crackdown raises fears of restrictions on recruiting overseas students. According to a report by New Age BD, an analysis of UK Home Office data by the Financial Times shows the proportion of study visa applications from Bangladesh withdrawn in the first half of 2026 rose to 23.5 per cent from 7.1 per cent in the same period last year.
Overall, 10.5 per cent of UK study visa applications were withdrawn in the first six months of this year. This is up from 2.3 per cent in the same period in 2025 and 0.4 per cent in 2023. The increase comes as the Home Office doubled its refusals of study visa applications in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. This coincided with tighter rules governing how universities sponsor international students.
Universities said the increase in withdrawn applications was primarily driven by institutions revoking admission offers in response to higher visa refusal rates. International students can apply for study visas only after receiving university offers. When an institution subsequently revokes an offer, the associated visa application is withdrawn.
Under the tightened rules, universities risk being barred from recruiting overseas students if more than five per cent of prospective international students who receive offers have their visa applications rejected. The previous threshold was 10 per cent. The rise in visa refusals has been driven by a larger increase in rejections involving applicants from countries whose nationals the UK government suspects of using the student visa route to seek asylum.
This trend has prompted universities to withdraw admission offers. About 15 universities are believed to have suspended recruitment from Pakistan entirely this year, according to figures from the higher education sector. The Home Office stated that international students make a positive contribution to Britain, but this must not be at the expense of recruiting responsibly and protecting the integrity of the immigration system. It added that it was offering universities support where needed to improve their recruitment practices.