Uni of Nottingham will lower entry grade requirements for international students

University of Nottingham has said it will be introducing “reduced offers” for overseas students.

The lowered entry requirements will apply to a limited number of programmes, becoming the second UK university in the Russell Group to do so, reports Times Higher Education.

In January, University of York told staff it would be adopting a “more flexible approach” to international students who missed their offer grades after “financial challenges”

Nottingham follows York in “introducing reduced international offers for a limited number of undergraduate courses”. It said: “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.

“In order 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 are able to offer additional support to allow these students to reach their potential and thrive at our world-class university.”

The move comes as a result of frozen tuition fees for UK students, which has caused financial challenges for leading universities like Nottingham. This has meant they have had to turn to more profitable means such as enrolling more international students.

The university has admitted its aim 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”.

This comes after UK sector leaders denied claims that international students are able to buy their way into UK universities with lower grades than their British counterparts.

Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute Nick Hillman expressed concern about the “reputational risk to the whole university sector” that could emerge “if it looks like British applicants are being squeezed out and replaced one-for-one with extra international students”.

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