The number of students from EU countries applying to study at UK universities has more than halved since Brexit, the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reveal.
The UK's exit from the EU is thought to be the main factor behind this significant drop, as it means increased study costs and restrictions on access to student loans.
Before Brexit Community students were treated as natives, meaning they paid up to £9.000 per year of study. Now tuition fees, depending on the school, even reach 38.000 pounds a year.
In the last year before the new immigration rules came into force, i.e. 2020, new student registrations from EU countries were 66.680. Last year, for the 2021-22 academic year, the corresponding enrollments fell to 31.000.
The biggest drop is in undergraduate courses, with 13.155 EU students enrolling last year compared to 37.530 in 2020. In postgraduate courses EU students fell by 10.000 to 14.000.
A total of 120.000 students from the EU studied at all levels of study at British universities last year, compared to 152.000 the previous academic year. The figure includes students who were enrolled before Brexit and are continuing their course, on the original terms.
On the other hand, the increase in new student documents from countries such as China and India has been significant.
According to HESA data, almost 2021 students from Cyprus began their studies at British universities in the 22-6.330 academic year.
This places the country in ninth place of the EU countries with the most new students in the UK behind France (11.870), Italy (11.320), Spain (10.300) and Germany, Ireland, Romania, Poland, Greece ( 7.000 registrations) Portugal closes the top ten behind Cyprus.
Overall the top five countries with the most new students at UK universities last year were China (151.690 enrolments), India (126.535), Nigeria (44.195), Pakistan (23.075) and the USA (22.990).
Source: KYPE