Question 1

How many international students are in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Two official sources answer this. HESA counts international students enrolled at UK universities by country of domicile in its student statistics . The Home Office counts study visas: there were 383,455 sponsored study visas granted in the year ending June 2026, 11% fewer than a year earlier and 41% below the peak of 652,072 in the year ending June 2023, according to its immigration system statistics published on 27 August 2026. Of those grants, 365,868 went to main applicants. Dependant visas fell sharply after January 2024, when most international students lost the right to bring family members. Visa grants are not the same as students enrolled: a visa may be issued and the student not arrive, and EU students with settled status do not need one. Name the source and period. See our guide to Home Office statistics .

Question 2

How much student loan debt is there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The balance of higher education student loans for borrowers from England reached £294.6 billion at the end of the 2025-26 financial year, up from £266.6 billion a year earlier, according to the Student Loans Company's Student loans in England: financial year 2025-26 , published on 18 June 2026. Undergraduate lending that year was £20.5 billion. The average balance of higher education borrowers entering repayment in 2025/26 was £47,730. SLC also publishes separate releases for borrowers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so a UK total means adding them together. The balance grows because new lending and interest outweigh repayments, and it includes loans that will never be repaid. Check whether a figure is for England or the UK, and for higher education only or also further education.

Question 3

How much are student loan repayments?

Accepted Answer

You repay 9% of income above your plan's threshold, or 6% for a Postgraduate Loan, whatever you owe. The yearly thresholds shown on GOV.UK in October 2026 were £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4, £25,000 for Plan 5 and £21,000 for Postgraduate Loans. Repayments are usually taken through PAYE by your employer, or through Self Assessment if you are self-employed. Interest is added even when income is below the threshold. The Student Loans Company reports that higher education borrowers in England repaid £5.3 billion in 2025-26, and that 51.1% of those liable to repay made a repayment that year. Thresholds and interest rates change, so check the date of any figure you quote.

Question 4

When are student loans written off?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the repayment plan. According to GOV.UK , Plan 2 loans (England and Wales, courses from 2012) are written off 30 years after the April you were first due to repay, Plan 5 loans (England, courses from August 2023) after 40 years, and Plan 4 loans (Scotland) after 30 years. Plan 1 loans are written off after 25 years if first paid from September 2006, or at age 65 if earlier. The Department for Education's student loan forecasts , published on 9 July 2026, expect 55% of full-time undergraduates starting in 2025/26 to repay their loans in full. Written-off amounts in a given year are small for now, because the first large cohorts have not reached their write-off dates. Long-term cost estimates are forecasts, not outturn.

Question 5

What is the Graduate route visa and how many people get it?

Accepted Answer

The Graduate visa lets international students who complete an eligible UK degree stay to work or look for work. According to GOV.UK , it lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026 and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, with longer for people with a PhD. Home Office immigration system statistics show 157,356 Graduate route grants in the year ending June 2026, 39% fewer than the year before. Indian (64,495), Pakistani (22,383) and Nigerian (20,604) nationals received the most. Graduate route grants are extensions for people already in the UK, so they are counted separately from new study visas. Rules on length have changed, so check which date a claim refers to.

Question 6

How many apprenticeships are there in England?

Accepted Answer

There were 308,770 apprenticeship starts in England in the first nine months of the 2025/26 academic year (August 2025 to April 2026), 8.7% more than a year earlier, according to the Department for Education's apprenticeships statistics published on 16 July 2026. Some 735,500 people were taking part in an apprenticeship and 146,210 completed one in that period. Higher apprenticeships, at level 4 and above, accounted for 126,660 starts. Business, administration and law had the most starts of any subject area. Full-year figures come out after the academic year ends. Compare the same months across years, because part-year figures are not comparable with full-year totals. Apprenticeship pay and conditions are set out on GOV.UK .

Question 7

How much are university tuition fees in the UK?

Accepted Answer

In England, the maximum Tuition Fee Loan for a full-time course is £9,535 for 2025/26 and £9,790 for 2026/27, according to GOV.UK student finance . Universities set the fee itself, within the cap set by government, and the loan is paid straight to them. Accelerated degrees have a higher cap. The rules differ across the UK. Scottish students studying in Scotland have their tuition paid through the Student Awards Agency Scotland , while Wales and Northern Ireland have their own fee limits and student finance bodies. International students pay fees set by each university, with no government cap. When comparing fees over time, adjust for inflation and check whether a claim refers to the fee charged or the loan available.

Question 8

What percentage of the UK population has a degree?

Accepted Answer

In the 2021 Census, 33.8% of usual residents aged 16 and over in England and Wales (16.4 million people) had a Level 4 qualification or above, which includes degrees, Higher National Diplomas and postgraduate qualifications, according to the ONS Education, England and Wales: Census 2021 . London had the highest share at 46.7%; 18.2% of people had no qualifications. The share is higher among younger adults. The DfE's participation measures show that 44.5% of the cohort who were 15 in 2013/14 had started a first degree by age 25. "Level 4 or above" is wider than "a degree", and figures for all adults include older age groups with lower rates, so check which measure is used.

Question 9

How many students are there in UK universities?

Accepted Answer

The official count of students at UK universities and other higher education providers comes from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA, now part of Jisc). Its annual Higher Education Student Statistics: UK release gives enrolments by level, mode of study, subject, sex and where students come from. The 2024/25 edition's data files are also listed on data.gov.uk . For how many young people go on to higher education, the Department for Education's participation measures , published on 29 January 2026, show that 50.9% of the cohort who were 15 in 2013/14 in England had entered higher education by age 25, the highest in the series. Check whether a figure counts enrolments or individual students, includes part-time and postgraduate students, and covers the UK or England only. See our guide to higher education statistics .

Question 10

How much do graduates earn in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Working-age graduates in England had a median salary of £42,000 in 2024, compared with £47,000 for postgraduates and £30,500 for non-graduates, according to the Department for Education's graduate labour market statistics . 87.6% of graduates were in employment, against 68.0% of non-graduates. For earnings by course and university, the DfE's Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) statistics link tax records to education records. The Office for Students also shows graduate earnings for each course on Discover Uni. The DfE notes that raw graduate and non-graduate comparisons do not control for factors such as prior attainment. Its LEO release compares people with similar GCSE results and finds the gap varies a great deal by subject and sex. See average salary .

Question 11

What is the financial position of UK universities?

Accepted Answer

For England, the Office for Students' Financial sustainability of higher education providers in England 2026 , published on 14 May 2026, found a small improvement in the sector's overall finances in 2024-25. Total income grew by 2.7%, and 35.8% of providers reported a deficit, compared with the 44.2% that had forecast one. The OfS notes that providers forecast a slight deterioration in 2025-26 and a recovery from 2026-27 that depends on a significant rise in student recruitment. It also cites a predicted £570 million cost from the international student levy from 2028. Sector totals hide wide differences between institutions, and forecasts are providers' own. Universities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are overseen by different funding bodies, and HESA publishes finance data for the whole UK.

Question 12

What is the university dropout rate in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Officially, dropout is measured as "continuation": the share of students who are still studying, or have qualified, a set time after starting. For England, the Office for Students publishes continuation and completion rates for each registered provider, split by level and mode of study, on its student outcomes data dashboard , and sets minimum thresholds that providers must meet under its condition B3. HESA also publishes UK-wide non-continuation figures, which cover universities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Rates differ by subject, mode of study, entry qualifications and age, and part-time students are measured over a different period, so compare like with like. Measures also differ in how they treat students who transfer to another provider, so check the definition behind any rate quoted.

Universities and student finance: your questions answered