The number of overseas students applying for visas to come to the UK has fallen ahead of the start of the academic year, prompting fears about universities’ finances.

Overall, there were 263,400 sponsored study visa applications from students between July and September this year, compared to 312,500 over the same period in 2023 – a fall of 16%, Home Office figures show.

Over the same three-month period, there were 6,700 applications from dependants of students, compared to 59,900 between July and September last year – a drop of 89%.

Universities have warned of significant financial concerns as a result of frozen domestic tuition fees and a decline in overseas students following restrictions introduced by the former Conservative government.

Since January, international students in the UK have been banned from bringing dependants with them, apart from on some postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships.

The figures show there were 368,500 applications for sponsored study visas – from both main applicants and dependants – from January to September this year, down 31% from 533,400 in the same period last year.

The Home Office said the number of sponsored study applications typically peaks between July and September before the start of the academic year.

But the latest figures for September, published on Thursday, show there were 72,000 sponsored study visa applications from main applicants, compared with 83,500 in the same month last year – a fall of 14%.

Meanwhile, applications from families of overseas students dropped by 90%, from 22,500 in September 2023 to 2,300 in September this year.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank, told the PA news agency: “These hard numbers confirm our fear that the previous government’s changes have made the UK a less attractive study destination.

“They also explain why there is so much chatter about university failures – a drop of this magnitude forces university managers and governors to reconsider their finances, their staffing levels and their wider strategy and, in a few instances, could prove existential.

“The new set of ministers have changed the rhetoric but they have shown no willingness to change the policy or to explain what will happen if an institution topples over.”

Other restrictions gradually introduced by the former Conservative government this year amid pressure to cut the record number of people legally arriving in Britain included a ban on overseas care workers bringing family dependants and a hiked salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700.

The latest provisional Home Office figures also show a sharp drop in the number of visa applications from foreign care workers and their families, but the number of skilled worker visa applications has risen.

The number of skilled worker visa applications for main applicants and dependants combined rose from 91,600 between January and September 2023 to 108,400 in the same period this year, up 18%.

Meanwhile, the number of health and care worker visa applications for main applicants and dependants combined fell by 64% in the first nine months of this year (105,300) compared with the equivalent period in 2023 (288,700).

The visa application figures came on the same day a report said international recruitment had been “vital in helping the social care workforce grow”.

Skills for Care warned that the adult social care sector “can’t count on this continuing as we’re starting to see less of it – and the global job market is a competitive one”.

The social care sector has previously voiced concern about the effects of the former government’s dependants ban, branding it “brutal” and blaming the policy for cutting a “lifeline of overseas staff”.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “The falling number of applications from overseas students is a direct result of visa restrictions imposed by the previous Tory government, which continue to deter international students from coming to the UK, damaging university finances, local economies and Britain’s global standing on the world stage.

“Labour has offered warm words of welcome since taking office, and that is an important shift from open Tory hostility.

“But we need action: Labour must lift Tory visa restrictions as a first step towards stabilising our universities and rebuilding Britain.”

A Universities UK International (UUKi) spokesperson said: “The new Government has sent a clear message that international students are valued by and welcome in the UK. This, alongside confirmation that the graduate route remains in place, has provided some welcome certainty for universities.

“However, as the data released today shows, the recruitment environment remains very challenging.

“While there has been a small recovery, numbers remain down and the UK’s position as a top study destination is under threat.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Immigration must not be used as an alternative to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures in the UK. We are taking action to further bring down high levels of legal migration by tackling the root causes behind high international recruitment and ensuring we train up our homegrown workforce.

“This Government values the contribution legal migration makes to our country, but it must be controlled and delivered through a fair system.”