International student recruitment at UK business schools has fallen sharply over the past year, and deans expect it to get worse, according to the annual survey of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS). The survey, reported by Times Higher Education on 9 November, found that 69 per cent of the 59 business schools polled reported lower international enrolments for 2026-27, with 48 per cent reporting significantly lower enrolments than the previous academic year.

A sharp reversal

Only just under one in five schools, 19 per cent, reported higher international enrolments this academic year, a steep fall from the previous year, when nearly half, 46 per cent, said the same. Stewart Robinson, the chair of CABS, told Times Higher Education that the survey results were “worse than expected”. The survey found that substantial changes to the rules for universities that sponsor international student visas have been a key factor in the reduction. The financial outlook for the schools is described in the report as “concerning”, with three in five schools, 59 per cent, anticipating a decline in their income over the next year, including a fifth, 19 per cent, preparing for a significant drop.

The levy ahead

The introduction of the international student levy in 2028 is widely expected to make things worse, with 71 per cent of deans saying it will negatively affect recruitment. The most commonly expected response to the levy is to pass on part of the additional cost to students through higher tuition fees, chosen by 44 per cent of respondents. About a third, 35 per cent, said they expect their university to absorb the cost internally or reduce spending elsewhere in the university, while just under a third, 30 per cent, anticipate cuts in spending within the business school itself. The pressure comes despite demands from parent universities to increase income: business schools are often expected to enrol more students to balance the books of their wider institutions, even as overseas demand falls.

January starts also down

A separate Chartered ABS pulse survey of courses starting in January 2026 found the same pattern, with about two-thirds of schools recording lower international enrolments than a year earlier, up from 58 per cent in the previous year’s survey. Postgraduate recruitment bore the brunt of the decline, with 64 per cent of schools reporting lower international postgraduate enrolments, while undergraduate recruitment was more stable, with 68 per cent reporting broadly unchanged numbers. Restrictive immigration policies continue to be a significant factor: the ban on student dependants’ visas remains a negative factor for the majority of respondents, and recruitment from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan was most frequently cited as being negatively affected. The association warned that the shortening of the Graduate Route, the dependants ban and the proposed levy will continue to damage business school finances, and by extension their parent universities. Sources: Times Higher Education and the Chartered Association of Business Schools.