United Kingdom universities have withdrawn 22.7 per cent of admission offers to Nigerian students amid a tightening of visa rules targeting international applicants suspected of using the study route to seek asylum.
The withdrawals, which also affected Pakistani applicants, occurred in the first half of 2026 as the British government intensified scrutiny of student visa applications.
According to the Financial Times, the increase in rejected study visa applications has been driven largely by refusals involving nationalities the UK Home Office suspects may be exploiting the student visa route to pursue asylum claims.
“The rise in the Home Office’s rejections of study visas has been driven by a bigger increase in refusals from nationalities that the UK government suspects of using the route to make asylum claims,” the report stated.
The development raises fresh concerns for Nigerian students seeking admission to British universities, as tighter immigration controls could make securing study visas increasingly difficult.
However, the reported withdrawals do not mean that all Nigerian applicants are affected, and the available report does not establish that every affected student was suspected of abusing the asylum system.
