After winning three matches to qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open, Higginson lost 5–3 to Ricky Walden in the first round and he was knocked out in the same stage of the International Championship 6–4 by Liang Wenbo.&lt;ref name="2015/16"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; Another opening round defeat in a ranking came at the UK Championship 6–1 to David Grace. At the Gdynia Open, Higginson defeated five players to reach the semi-finals, but lost 4–2 to Mark Selby. This saw him finish 15th on the Order of Merit and qualify for the Grand Final, where he was knocked out 4–1 by Matthew Selt. Higginson failed to win a match at a ranking event for the sixth time this season when he suffered a 5–3 loss to Yuan Sijun in the wildcard round of the China Open. His ranking slump continued as he was placed 56th in the world.