The University of Edinburgh’s Annual Report and Accounts for the 2024/2025 academic year revealed the university’s increasing dependence on international students.
Student growth increased by 0.3 per cent between 2024 and 2025, with international students at the university now offsetting the decline in the number of Scottish and other UK students.
Insufficient Scottish funding and capped tuition fees for the rest of the UK resulted in financial losses on many home students, so international enrollment is more important than ever.
However, the report also outlines the university’s reliance on one single country for its international intake.
Last year, the ratio of the largest international market (the country sending the most students to Edinburgh) to the 5th largest international market was 23:1. This signifies that for every one student from the fifth largest country, there are 23 students from the largest country at the university.
This is a slight improvement compared to the 2023/2024 academic year, in which the ratio was 25:1, but reliance on one country remains high.
This dependence could cause risks to the universities future stability and high-ranking position, as changes within the largest international market — like adjustments to visa rules, the economy, or the collapse of currency — could lead to a drop of international student numbers and income.
Despite this reliance, the report affirms that the university is finding it harder to attract higher-fee-paying international students due to global market competitiveness.
It also declares that a shortfall of international recruitments could lead to the cancellation of a number of academic programmes, as well as research pipelines for post-graduates.
The report cited a “falling international postgraduate student demand to study in the UK” as a risk to their “capacity to invest in capital and other substantial programmes aligned to the University’s mission and intended to support long-term financial sustainability.”
One international student, dissatisfied with the quality and organisation of the teaching and university administration, told The Student that they often feel “exploited” by the university’s increasing resemblance to “shamelessly profit-orientated firms.”
Image by Ulia Makoveeva for The Student.