Several universities in the United Kingdom have begun suspending or halting admissions of students from Bangladesh and Pakistan amid tightened immigration controls and rising concerns over alleged visa misuse.
According to the Financial Times, at least nine UK higher education institutions have imposed restrictions on applicants from what they classify as “high-risk” countries. The move follows a sharp rise in visa refusal rates and asylum claims linked to international students.
Among the affected institutions, the University of Wolverhampton has stopped accepting undergraduate applications from both Bangladesh and Pakistan, while the Universities of Sunderland and Coventry have suspended recruitment from the two countries.
London Metropolitan University has confirmed that it has halted Bangladeshi admissions, citing that 60 percent of its visa refusals came from Bangladeshi applicants. The University of Chester has suspended admissions from Pakistan until autumn 2026, and the University of Hertfordshire has paused recruitment from both countries until next year.
The tightening comes after the UK Home Office revised its Basic Compliance Assessment rules in September, lowering the acceptable visa refusal threshold for universities from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Institutions that fail to meet the new standard risk losing their licence to sponsor international students.
