‘Damage done’ for business schools’ international January intakes

It might already be too late to save UK business schools’ international enrolments for January course starts, with institutions turning their attention to bolstering next autumn’s recruitment round, according to a sector leader.

The annual survey of deans conducted by the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) found that 39 per cent of respondents expected their January intakes to be down year on year, with 19 per cent forecasting a “significant” decrease. Only 22 per cent are predicting an increase, and a slight one at that.

Stewart Robinson, the association’s chair, said that as far as he was concerned “the damage is done” on January enrolments.

“We’re only two months away and I think it’s going to be difficult to achieve. But moving into September 2025, there is time to make a difference,” said Professor Robinson, dean of Newcastle University Business School.

“Last year a lot of the difference happened within a year because of policies that put out negativism. The point is, if we wait too long we’ll miss the 2025 window. It’s about enacting change as quickly as possible.”

The report, published as CABS’ annual conference got under way on 4 November, follows concerns that the last UK government’s decision to ban most international students from bringing dependants with them had had a devastating impact on recruitment.

In the latest CABS survey, 75 per cent of the 47 deans who responded said that their international intakes were down year on year, with half reporting significant declines. Eighty-four per cent directly linked faltering recruitment to the visa restrictions brought in at the start of 2024.

The CABS report warns of significant risks for the viability of UK business schools, with 85 per cent of respondents saying their institutions were either significantly or entirely reliant on international student fees for their survival.

Professor Robinson highlighted a “concerning” picture for higher education finances more broadly given that business schools “have been a driver of university finances for years”, with business students accounting for a third of all international students studying in the UK.

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All of the deans surveyed said that their parent universities’ finances were to some extent reliant on business schools’ ability to recruit international postgraduates, and on average 60 per cent of the net income generated by business schools was creamed off by their parent institutions last year – up marginally from the 59 per cent reported in 2022-23. 

Professor Robinson warned that the “cross-subsidy model” bankrolled by international business school recruitment was now “impacting our home domestic students and the ability of universities to deliver research”. 

However, he said he remained optimistic that the new Labour government would improve the policy environment for international students coming to the UK.

“This is primarily a UK phenomenon – and actually it’s not about the market; it’s about the market share for the UK. So I believe this is reversible if we get the right policies and approaches in place,” he said.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com