Nottingham University has announced that it would lower the requirements for prospective international students by offering admissions with lower grades than is normally allowed.
The university, which is one of the UK’s Russell Group university, is the second university this month to take this approach. The University of York earlier in the month, told staff to take a “more flexible approach” to students who missed their offer grades.
The moves have been seen as a sign of the financial challenges facing even leading English universities, as a frozen domestic tuition fee forces institutions to pivot towards more lucrative overseas learners.
In its latest accounts, seen by Nairametrics, Nottingham admits that its strategy is to gradually increase the mix of international students as a proportion of total students, a strategy which will gradually grow tuition fee income but maintain the overall size of the student population”.
What they said
The university spokesman, in a statement, said that in response to its current financial challenges, the university has decided to lower its tariff for all departments and programmes for overseas applicants and is also introducing reduced international offers by limiting the number of undergraduate courses.
The statement says,
- “We hope to increase the number of participating undergraduate courses in this scheme for the 2025 application cycle and beyond
- “A standard offer at the institution is A*AA or equivalent”.
- “To recognise the differences that international students may face when studying overseas, and help to overcome any obstacles that our international fee status applicants may experience, we can offer additional support to allow these students to reach their potential and thrive at our world-class university, the university noted on its website.
- The reason behind the approach
Nottingham University’s cash inflow from operating activities dropped significantly from £109 million in 2021-22 to £27.2 million last year.
Additionally, their acceptance of international undergraduate applicants decreased by 12% compared to the previous year, accepting 835 students in 2023.
The Director of Nottingham university, Nick Hillman suggested that reducing offers could promote fairness among international students, but cautioned against a perception that British applicants are being displaced.
Nottingham however, has defended its admissions practices, citing contextual offers to identify talented students with personal challenges affecting their grades.
