Global Shift: New policies impact international student demand in the UK, Canada & Australia

The new restrictive policies regarding international students in the UK, Canada, and Australia are having a significant impact on prospective student demand for study in those countries, according to a report by ICEF Monitor.

IDP's latest research, "The Voice of the International Student," conducted in January 2024 across 67 countries with 2,500 student participants, shows that a lot of students are thinking twice about studying in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Meanwhile, the United States seems to be becoming more attractive among students.

The prospective student demand for Canada, in particular, is dipping dramatically, while interest in the US increased significantly in 2023, according to a report by Studyportals.


Nearly half of the students surveyed by IDP (49%) are either reconsidering or uncertain about their decision to study in the UK. Similarly, significant portions are also hesitant about going to Australia (47%) and Canada (43%).

The Studyportals research – based on pageview data from the Studyportals search site – found that student interest in Canada has been declining for some time, especially for study in British Columbia, the province that holds the second largest share of international students after Ontario.

Losing interest in Canada:

There is a growing sense in India that study abroad in Canada isn’t as prestigious as it is in the UK or US, said Experts on a featured panel at the annual Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) conference in Vancouver in late-2023.

Studyportals data also showed that demand from India is down (-40% between February 2023 and January 2024).

The diplomatic rift between Canada and India last year caused visa processing delays, but apart from that Canada has also lost some allure in India for other reasons.

Alternatives:

“This latest pulse survey highlights that international students are highly attuned to the ongoing discussions regarding policy changes, and that this is impacting the standing of the top global study destinations at a time when competition between destination countries is at an all-time high,” Simon Emmett, IDP Connect’s CEO said in ICEF’s report.

The IDP research says that the US is the most attractive destination for students who are thinking twice about going to the UK, Australia, or Canada.

Italy has experienced a significant increase in popularity as well among international students.

Interest in the Netherlands has increased recently, but it might go down soon because Dutch universities plan to decrease the number of international students and English-taught programs, says ICEF Monitor report.

Impact of policies on international students’ prospects

Emmett told ICEF that students naturally want certainty when they are making study abroad decisions, and the changing posture of British, Canadian, and Australian governments towards international students is not inspiring confidence.

Until the end of 2023, the Canadian and Australian governments had been encouraging an increase in the number of international students in their educational institutions. In the UK, the positive attitude towards higher international enrollments started to shift in mid-2023 when the Home Office and Department of Education announced that from January 2024, most international students would not be allowed to bring their dependents with them to the UK.

In the UK, Canada, and Australia, the new policies on international education align with the governments' efforts to more actively regulate immigration. Additionally, in Canada and Australia, the policies aim to crack down on dishonest institutions and agents while enhancing quality controls throughout the international education sector.