University of Bradford pauses applications from some international students amid rising visa refusals

The University of Bradford is among the universities reducing the number of offers made to international students amid increasing governmental pressure to curb immigration.

The university, led by new Vice-Chancellor Gillian Murray, has faced a number of challenges in the run-up to its 60^th anniversary, including a round of redundancies and a sharp decline in student intake.

A more recent challenge has been the combination of student sponsor licensing rules and rising Home Office visa refusal rates.

Under the current regulations, any institution currently licensed to enrol international students must apply for a Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) from the Home Office every year.

Failing the assessment may see the institution’s student sponsor license suspended or revoked entirely, which would cut it off from a lucrative market.

These sanctions also disrupt current and prospective international students, many of whom already struggle with the visa application process. In extreme cases, students may need to secure a new sponsorship from a different university.

One of the ways a university can fail a BCA is if 5% or more of its sponsors’ students’ visa applications are refused. The threshold was formerly 10%, and was lowered for assessments from 1 June 2026.

At the same time, the overall UK student visa refusal rate has risen to 4.9%.

In response, many universities have been withdrawing offers to international students to avoid breaching the limit. National withdrawal rates have more than quadrupled between the first six months of 2025 and 2026.

It’s a really challenging time for all universities, but for us in particular because of that multicultural dynamic

Gillian Murray, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford

For applicants from Pakistan, who face higher refusal rates, 40.9% of visa applications were withdrawn over the same period, up from 3% a year earlier.

The University of Bradford has paused applications from Pakistan and other affected countries, despite pressure from the local Pakistani community and the local MP.

Murray stated that around 80% of the university’s students come from the local area, and many are from families with links to the countries and communities whose applications UK Visas and Immigration is not currently accepting.

She added: “It’s a really challenging time for all universities, but for us in particular because of that multicultural dynamic.”