
In light of the UK federal government’s inbound tightening up of visa compliance guidelines, including the lowering of visa refusal thresholds, prospective students from Pakistan and Bangladesh will no longer have the ability to apply to the university till at least Fall 2026.
“As visa rejection rates for Pakistan and Bangladesh are far above the brand-new threshold, we have actually made the tough choice to pause recruitment of students from these countries while we review our procedures to ensure we can remain compliant,” said a representative for the University of Derby.
“Any student who has actually already received their CAS for Derby will be able to continue with their application. All other applications will be cancelled, and the candidates will receive a full refund where deposits have already been paid. This withdrawal will not affect their capability to apply to another UK university, or to pursue other chances.”
Derby is a varied and inviting city, and we are dedicated to promoting and celebrating diversity and equality. However, we must make sure that we abide by UK visa policies, and we are asking our relied on partners to deal with us to accomplish this.University of Derby representative
“Derby is a varied and welcoming city, and we are dedicated to promoting and commemorating diversity and equality. However, we should ensure that we adhere to UK visa guidelines, and we are asking our trusted partners to deal with us to attain this,” the spokesperson added.
The university stated it is “happy to invite” more than 2,000 international trainees from over 100 countries studying at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. According to HESA information, in the scholastic year 2024/25, the University of Derby hosted 220 trainees from Pakistan and 35 students from Bangladesh.
Under procedures set out in the government’s immigration white paper, universities need to preserve a visa rejection rate listed below 5% (down from 10%).
The federal government has also raised the minimum pass requirement for other Fundamental Compliance Evaluation (BCA) metrics by 5 percentage points, indicating sponsors must maintain a course enrolment rate of a minimum of 95% and a course conclusion rate of 90%.
Organizations risk losing their licence to sponsor international trainees if they do not comply.
Derby is not the very first institution to take the challenging choice to pause recruitment from certain markets as a result of the brand-new procedures. In July in 2015, London Met withdrew from the Bangladeshi market due to a high number of visa rejections.

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