The United Kingdom has introduced stricter immigration measures that could prevent universities from recruiting Nigerian and other international students if they fail to meet tougher compliance standards.

Under the new rules announced by the UK Home Office, universities risk losing their licence to sponsor foreign students if more than five percent of student visa applications linked to them are refused, down from the previous threshold of 10 percent.

Institutions must also achieve a minimum student enrolment rate of 95 percent and a course completion rate of 90 percent. Universities that record high dropout rates or fail to meet these benchmarks could be barred from admitting international students.

The Home Office said the measures are aimed at tackling abuse of study, work and visitor visa routes, noting that high visa refusal rates and student dropouts may indicate inadequate screening of applicants or misuse of study visas for illegal work.

The move follows recent restrictions on study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, introduced over concerns about rising asylum claims. According to the Home Office, asylum applications from international students have fallen by 30 percent over the past year following tighter enforcement measures.

The government also revealed that it has contacted more than 306,000 students whose visas are due to expire, warning that unfounded asylum claims will be rejected and that individuals without legal grounds to remain in the country could face removal.