East Asia student mobility review

This report examines the current state of student mobility from East Asia to the UK. Pulling together the latest available data on higher education enrolments, issuance of UK study visas and applications to undergraduate programmes, the report constructs a picture of the impact that Covid-19 has had on demand for UK education in the world’s most important education region.

Student mobility from East Asia was more negatively impacted by the pandemic than almost any other region in the world. First-year enrolments in UK higher education programmes dropped nearly 12% in 2020/21, compared with a 1.6% rise from the rest of the world. This sharp decline occurred across all of East Asia: 14 of the 15 education markets considered in this report saw first-year enrolments fall in 2020/21.