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The Brief delivers sharp, five-minute updates on the policies, numbers, and market shifts shaping international students, education agents, and colleges. Each episode offers practical takeaways to help your business strategy, student advice, strengthen applications, and make smarter decisions. Fast, fact-driven, and built for busy professionals — this is the podcast to stay in the loop and stay competitive in international education.
Business and IT are growing amongst UK international students, but watch out for health and medicine. Welcome to The Brief. I'm Conrad.
Speaker 2:And I'm Aiden, And here's what you need to know about what students are looking to study in The UK in 2025 onwards.
Speaker 3:First, the share of new international students in computing is up three percentage points since 2019, a modest growth. Second, health and medicine hits 11% of all new UK international entrants, an outstanding 1% growth since 2019. And yes, that was sarcasm.
Speaker 2:Third, arts, social sciences, and humanities crashed five percentage points, while business and law still dominates more than ever.
Speaker 3:So why is arts and humanities declining at such a faster pace, Eden?
Speaker 2:Students are going where the money is. It's that simple. More students are going towards other areas, business, IT, and health, away from arts. Looking ahead to 2025, 2026, and beyond, expect these trends to accelerate. Artificial intelligence and machine learning programs will help keep the growth coming in computing and IT.
Speaker 3:And while business and IT will continue to dominate, it would be wise to assume that health and medicine has a lot of potential. In The UK, the NHS shortage is real. Tens of thousands of nurses are urgently needed.
Speaker 2:The health sector bet gets even more compelling when you look at visa pathways. The health and care worker is an example of tailored visas created to attract health care professionals. The U. K. Health crisis will continue to play a factor on both domestic politics and international student recruitment.
Speaker 2:Maybe an increasing role.
Speaker 3:But there's a catch. The health and care worker visa is not a market driven phenomenon. It is a temporary, politically driven solution to a domestic crisis. Its favorable terms exist only as long as the political will to keep them exists. A new government, a shift in public opinion, or progress on domestic training targets could lead to this visa being tightened or restricted with very little notice.
Speaker 3:So, be advised.
Speaker 2:Alright, so your key takeaways are Show employment outcomes. For example, highlight alumni working at large companies, if possible. Students want to see specific company placements, not just academic prestige.
Speaker 1:While growth on health and medicine enrollments is small, there is a latent demand in The U. K. Domestic market. For students that want a sure pathway to employment and long term staying, this may be one of the best ways to accomplish that.
Speaker 2:The summary: students want return on their investment, not just rankings.
Speaker 3:That's correct. And that's The See you next episode of The Brief, International Education Edition.