Afghan Students Barred from UK Universities Over Taliban Governance

(UNITED KINGDOM) Several British universities have halted or curbed applications from Afghan students for 2025 entry, citing a sharp rise in visa rejections and intensified Home Office scrutiny amid concerns about Taliban governance and the risk of students claiming asylum after arrival. Bournemouth University and the University of Buckingham have confirmed suspensions, While Manchester and Bristol have been named among institutions that have restricted or paused Afghan applications. The steps have come as applications from Afghanistan to UK higher education have fallen by more than 40% since the Taliban seized control in August 2021, a steep drop that university staff and refugee advocates say is shutting the door on students who have few other routes to study.

Bournemouth University said it had taken the measure because of a surge in entry clearance refusals for certain nationalities and the risk to its status as a licensed student sponsor.

“This difficult decision [was taken] to ensure we continue to uphold our responsibility to the UK Home Office as an approved sponsor for student visas. Every year we welcome students from around the world, but the UK has seen an increasing number of applicants from Iran and Afghanistan being refused visas, so we have suspended applications from these countries at this time,” a Bournemouth spokesperson said.
The University of Buckingham echoed that rationale, saying it had seen a spike in applicants who ran into trouble securing visas. The university
“took the difficult decision to suspend processing applications from students domiciled in Afghanistan due to a spike in applicants who had issues with obtaining a student visa,” the institution said.

The decisions come against a backdrop of stricter compliance demands on universities and a notable rise in asylum claims by Afghans already inside the UK. Between June 2024 and June 2025, more than 8,000 Afghans claimed asylum in Britain, and 1,000 of those already held some form of visa at the time of their claims. Universities face penalties if refusal rates climb or if students they sponsor subsequently switch to the asylum system in large numbers, prompting some institutions to adjust recruitment practices even when applicants meet academic criteria. For Afghan students, visa rejections have become a defining barrier, deterring applications and closing off courses that previously recruited widely from the country.

The tightening has not been uniform across the sector. While Manchester and Bristol have been cited as among those suspending or restricting Afghan applications, Bristol’s public-facing site still says, “We welcome applications from Afghan students.” Other institutions have opted for time-based controls rather than outright bans. Nottingham Trent University continues to accept Afghan applicants but has introduced earlier deadlines, warning that British consular processing times have repeatedly delayed student arrivals. Its website explains: “In previous years, students resident in Afghanistan have experienced extensive wait times from the UK Visas and Immigration services. This often means students are unable to arrive in time for the start of their course at NTU and must defer to the next intake.” The policy aims to ensure that accepted Afghan students can reach campus before teaching starts, but it also raises the bar on paperwork and preparation in a context where travel and documentation are often precarious.

Universities that maintain open doors for Afghan applicants say reality often catches up at the visa stage. Warwick, Brighton, Ulster and University College London continue to list Afghanistan on their admissions pages and say they are accepting applications. Yet admissions staff and student groups report that applicants face long waits, refusals and sudden interview requests that can derail plans late in the process. For some Afghan students, even gathering required documents has become a challenge since the Taliban’s return, and embassy access in neighboring countries can be costly or dangerous. These practical hurdles have collided with rising refusal rates to shrink the pipeline before classes begin.

Experts in international higher education say the sector is being backed into a corner by compliance rules that treat Afghan students as risks rather than scholars. Dr. Jenna Mittelmeier, a senior lecturer in international education at the University of Manchester, said the right to seek protection should not be conflated with abuse of the student route.

“Seeking asylum after entering the country on a student visa is a legal and human right, despite the government’s attempts to make this route more hostile. By altering recruitment practices despite their humanitarian toll, universities contribute to further legitimising anti-migrant discourses and policies,” she said.
Her comments underscore growing concern that visa rejections are now shaping admissions far beyond academic merit, with Afghan students bearing the brunt.

There are signs the squeeze is spreading beyond Afghanistan as institutions react to shifting refusal patterns. Middlesex University has suspended certain courses for applicants from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, pointing to what it describes as higher-risk recruitment. The move reflects a broader cautiousness as universities seek to avoid sanctions if their sponsored students struggle to clear immigration checks. For Afghan candidates, that environment has produced a patchwork of routes into the UK where acceptance at one university still leaves the visa stage as the ultimate gatekeeper.

The Home Office has not published a breakdown of refusal rates by university, but compliance pressures have hardened over the past year as ministers have promised to reduce migration and prevent the student route from becoming an indirect asylum pathway. Universities have been reminded that sponsors can be penalized for high refusal rates and for failing to monitor students after arrival. In practice, that has encouraged staff to screen out applications from countries where UK Visas and Immigration is known to be rejecting more cases or taking months to process, especially in the absence of reliable priority services. Official guidance for the student route makes universities responsible for assessing academic credibility and financial capacity, and for reporting issues affecting sponsored students. The policies place institutions at the frontline of border control even before CAS numbers are issued, a burden they say is growing year by year. The government’s overview of the route is available via the UK government Student visa guidance.

The human impact of these policies lands hardest on young people whose education at home has been blocked. The Taliban’s ongoing bans on girls’ and women’s education have already forced many out of classrooms, and the restrictions have compounded pressure on those seeking study abroad. At the United Nations Security Council, UK Ambassador James Kariuki urged Taliban leaders to reverse their decrees.

“The United Kingdom joins others in unequivocally condemning this ban and all others which restrict Afghan women and girls’ rights and fundamental freedoms. We strongly urge their immediate reversal,” he said.
For would-be students, those words meet a daily reality in which acceptance letters are only the start of a long, uncertain journey through visas, security checks and financial documentation that can prove impossible to assemble from inside Afghanistan.

Afghan students and their advocates say the numbers reflect those blocks. Since August 2021, applications from Afghanistan to UK universities have fallen by more than 40%, a steep decline that admissions officers link to visa rejections and to fears that attempting the process will end in refusal. In practice, that means fewer Afghans enrolling on courses that once counted dozens of students each year, and more turning to other destinations or abandoning study plans altogether. The decline does not account for those who applied and then deferred after missing start dates because of delays by UK Visas and Immigration, a pattern Nottingham Trent University highlighted by shifting deadlines earlier in the cycle.

The reasons for visa rejections span security, documentation and financial rules that can be challenging to meet under Taliban rule. Students must show they can pay for tuition and living costs, secure travel and provide credible evidence of intent to study—standards common across many countries. Yet for Afghan students, bank statements, school records and identity documents can be hard to verify, especially when schools have closed, officials have fled, or records have been lost. Embassies and visa application centres operating outside Afghanistan may require travel to third countries, which in turn demands visas and funding many do not have. Those who do make it to biometrics and interviews face case-by-case scrutiny that, according to university staff, has become more searching since 2021.

The group of universities acting now has narrowed formal channels at a time when demand for places is likely to grow. Bournemouth’s suspension covers both Iran and Afghanistan, reflecting what its spokesperson described as a national rise in refusals. Manchester and Bristol have been named among institutions restricting or suspending Afghan applications, though Bristol’s website continues to state that it welcomes such applications. Buckingham’s suspension, in place since March 2025, was described as a response to a spike in visa difficulties among Afghan applicants. Meanwhile, universities like Warwick, Brighton, Ulster and UCL maintain that they still accept applications from Afghanistan, even as they acknowledge the practical hurdles caused by visa processing delays and refusals.

Universities that continue to accept Afghan applicants say they now spend more time guiding students through requirements and warning them about timelines and risks. For courses starting in autumn, some institutions are telling Afghan students to prepare months earlier than peers from other countries to allow for potential backlogs. Nottingham Trent’s statement that Afghan applicants have “experienced extensive wait times” from UK Visas and Immigration is echoed privately by admissions teams elsewhere, who worry that sudden surges in refusals can undo years of outreach in Afghanistan and leave departments scrambling to fill places late in the cycle. The earlier deadlines at NTU are designed to avoid last-minute deferrals, but they also serve as a red flag that the system is not working at the pace needed for students under pressure.

The underlying fear among institutions is that a small number of asylum claims could trigger penalties that threaten their sponsor status. The statistic that 1,000 Afghans who claimed asylum between June 2024 and June 2025 already held some form of visa has sharpened that concern, even though the right to seek asylum is protected in law. As Dr. Mittelmeier put it,

“Seeking asylum after entering the country on a student visa is a legal and human right,”
a reality that sits uneasily with the compliance metrics that guide sponsor monitoring. The result is a risk calculus that weighs humanitarian duty against institutional penalties, often to the detriment of Afghan students trying to access higher education.

Beyond the immediate impact on admissions, the trend also shapes the international standing of UK higher education. Universities have long advertised their commitment to global access, including for students from conflict zones. Cutting off or constraining Afghan applications undercuts that message and shifts responsibility to a handful of institutions prepared to accept the compliance risks and administrative load. It also complicates efforts by the UK to position itself as a leading supporter of Afghan women and girls’ education, a priority highlighted in Ambassador Kariuki’s statement to the UN Security Council. If Afghan students see offers rescinded or applications blocked because of visa rejections, the promise of educational refuge rings hollow.

For now, Afghan students weighing the UK against other destinations face a stark set of choices. Those applying to universities that still accept Afghan students must start early, gather documents meticulously and brace for long waits. Those eyeing institutions that have suspended applications will need to look elsewhere or delay plans, hoping that policies shift as the visa landscape changes. And for universities, each recruitment cycle brings a fresh test of how to balance compliance with access for a cohort whose need is acute but whose path is increasingly narrow under Home Office scrutiny.

As the 2025 intake approaches, the split is clear. Some universities have opted to shut their doors to Afghan applicants altogether in response to visa rejections and the risk calculus that follows. Others continue to welcome applications but warn that practical barriers may still prevent students from arriving on time. The numbers show the cost: more than 8,000 Afghans sought asylum in the UK in the past year, 1,000 of them already on some form of visa, while the pool of Afghan applicants to higher education has shrunk by over 40% since the Taliban’s return. In this climate, the question for the sector is not whether Afghan students want to study in the UK—they do—but whether the system set up to admit them will let them in.