The writing was on the wall at Sunderland.
In December 2023 the University of Sunderland’s Executive told governors that international recruitment was in “turbulence”. When income fell, the staff it invited to leave were offered the lowest severance cap we could find, and the university’s reliance on international fees stayed at its peak. In February 2026 Home Office figures showed the refusal rate for Nigerian student visas had more than tripled. Nigeria was Sunderland’s biggest market, and that autumn the university’s international enrolment fell by 40%.
The lowest severance cap we could find.
The most Sunderland’s 2024 scheme paid, whether you had served 11 years or 30. Other universities offered from six months to more than a year.
Read → International fees 44.8%International fees stayed at their peak after the Executive reported “turbulence” in 2023.
In 2024/25, 45p of every £1 Sunderland earned came from international students’ fees, the highest share in seven years of accounts. In 2018/19 it was about 25p.
Read → Visa refusals 17.9%The jump in Nigerian visa refusals was on GOV.UK in February 2026.
The share of Nigerian student visa applications the Home Office refused in late 2025, up from 5.3% a year earlier. Nigeria was Sunderland’s biggest source of international students.
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