Latest figures released by the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency, has revealed that a total number of 128,770 Nigerians have been enrolled to study in different higher institutions in the UK, in the last 7years, from 2015 to 2022.

 

 

The agency revealed that in the 2015/2016 academic year, statistics indicate that 16,100 Nigerians were enrolled in UK universities, and the numbers has been increasing as years go by, except in the 2016/2017 academic session when there was a sharp decline, and a total number of 12,655 Nigerians were enrolled.

 

It declined further in the following academic session to a totla number of 10,685 while it rose marginally to 10,810 during the 2018/2019 academic session, with experts blaming the recession back home in Nigeria for the drop.

 

It has since been on a increase since then as it saw a significant percentage increase in the 2019/2020 academic session, as 13,020 students were enrolled, while 21,305 were enrolled during the 2020/2021 session representing a 64 per cent increase.

 

The latest data available by HESA revealed that 44,195 students were enrolled for the 2021/2022 session, the highest so far since Nigeria’s independence in 1960.

 

A breakdown of the HESA statistics shows that in the top 10 international students list, Nigeria ranked third behind China and India.

 

It was gathered that foreign tertiary institutions and their respective countries have continued to benefit from the migration of Nigerian students to oversea institutions.

 

In a new development, the United Kingdom is set to announce new restrictions that will most likely stop Nigerian students and other nationalities studying in the UK from bringing their families over.