Accredited official statistics

Why do people come to the UK? To study

Updated 13 June 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-study

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2024’ contents page.

Data relates to the year ending March 2024 and all comparisons are with the year ending March 2023 (unless indicated otherwise). All data includes dependants, unless indicated otherwise.

In the year ending March 2024, there were 446,924 sponsored study visas granted to main applicants, 6% fewer than in the year ending March 2023 but 66% higher than 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between 2011 and 2016 sponsored study visa grants to main applicants were relatively stable at around 200,000 per year (see Figure 1). After 2016 the numbers steadily increased, reaching 268,674 in 2019. Following a fall in numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visas issued have subsequently increased sharply, reaching a peak of 498,626 in the year ending June 2023. The number of visas issued in the latest year are slightly lower than the peak, at 446,924.

The large increase between mid-2020 and mid-2023 was in part due to immigration levels increasing as COVID-19 related restrictions were eased and followed the UK’s departure from the EU which ended free movement for many EEA nationals (excluding those with status on the EU Settlement Scheme) and introduced a new Immigration System.

In the year ending March 2024 there were 111,481 visas issued to student dependants, 25% fewer compared to the previous year but almost 7 times higher than in 2019.

The decrease in dependants of students follows a recent policy change for courses starting on or after 1 January 2024, where only researched-based postgraduate students are allowed to bring dependants (partners and children) to the UK. The number of sponsored study dependent visas granted in quarter one (January to March) of 2024 fell by 80%, compared to the same period in 2023, to 7,908. Over the same period, the number of main applicants granted a visa decreased by 22% to 37,451. Policy changes are one of a number of factors that may have impacted visa application volumes and it will be necessary to await the peak in student applications for the next academic year (which usually comes in August/September) before we can see the full effect of recent policy changes and any other impacts.

Figure 1: Sponsored study visas granted by applicant type, between the year ending March 2011 and the year ending March 2024

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows sharp increases in both the number of main applicant and dependant visas granted, following the COVID-19 pandemic and UK’s departure from the EU. The number of dependants has grown at a faster rate than main applicants in recent years. The numbers peaked in the year ending March 2023 with around 3 dependants for every 10 main applicants. However, the number of main applicants and dependants have since fallen with dependants decreasing at a faster rate in the first quarter (January to March) of 2024. In the year ending March 2024, one-fifth (20%) of sponsored study visas were issued to dependants.

Figure 2: Sponsored study visas granted to the top 5 nationalities (main applicants), between the year ending March 2019 and the year ending March 2024

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 2 shows that most of the increase in main applicants between 2019 and 2023 were from Indian and Nigerian nationals, but numbers for these nationalities have fallen in the latest year (by 16% and 38% respectively).

There were 116,455 sponsored study visa grants to main applicants that are Indian nationals in the year ending March 2024, (26% of the total), 21,717 fewer than the previous year. The majority (94,149, or 81%) of Indian students come to the UK to study at masters level and the recent decrease in Indian students was driven by 21,800 fewer Indian nationals coming to study at masters level. Chinese nationals are the second most common nationality granted sponsored study visas (108,582), accounting for 24% of the total, with the majority (63,027, 58%) also studying at masters level.

Figure 3: Student visas granted to main applicants by course level, between the year ending March 2019 and the year ending March 2024

Source: Sponsored study visas by course level – Edu_D02

Notes:

  1. ‘Other and unknown’ includes visas issued to courses below bachelors level, pre-sessional English courses, courses not able to be identified, and a small number of visas which couldn’t be matched to a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.

  2. Does not include child student routes.

Figure 3 shows that two-thirds (66%) of student visas granted in the year ending March 2024 were for masters level courses. The number of grants to students coming to study at masters level has increased each year between the year ending March 2019 (prior to the pandemic) and the year ending March 2023 (to 313,670), but fell slightly in the latest year to 283,595.

After masters, the most common level for student visas granted to main applicants was bachelors with 106,544 grants (25% of the total). The number of visas granted for bachelors level courses are higher than pre-pandemic levels, but have remained stable in the last few years.

Visas for students at doctoral level or other course levels made up a smaller proportion (9%) of grants in the latest year.

2. Extensions of Study

The Graduate route allows students who have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course to stay in the UK for a period after their studies to work or look for work. Statistics on extensions granted on the Graduate route are included in ‘Why do people come to the UK? To work’.

The Home Office have also published a report ‘Analysis of migrants use of the Graduate route’ on the 14 May 2024, providing an in-depth analysis of those who enter and leave the Graduate route using Migrant Journey data and insights on earnings by linking Home Office visa records to HMRC income data. This report complements the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC’s) ‘Rapid Review of the Graduate Route’ published on the same date.

In the year ending March 2024, grants of extensions into Sponsored study routes for main applicants decreased by 38% to 35,175, compared with the year ending March 2023, (56,736).

In the year ending March 2024, a total of 41,983 extensions were granted into Sponsored study routes, for all applicants. Of these, 84% (35,175) were to main applicants, and 16% (6,808) were to dependants.

Analysis linking the current category of leave to the previous category of leave shows that of the main applicants granted a study visa extension in the year ending March 2024, 87% held a study visa before their current study extension was granted. A further 9% previously held a work visa, and the remaining 4% previously held a visa in the Other or Unknown categories.

Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2023 report shows that most foreign students do not remain in the UK indefinitely. Since 2007, fewer than 10% of people who came to study in the UK had indefinite leave to remain 10 years later (compared to over 20% who came for work and over 80% for family reasons). The 2020 cohort is the first for which students of any course length could transfer directly to the graduate route. For this cohort of students 57% still held valid or indefinite leave 3 years later, at the end of 2023, compared to 39% in the 2019 cohort and 34% for students arriving between 2011 and 2018.

3. About these statistics

The statistics in this section provide an indication of the number of people who have an intention to enter the UK for study reasons. Further information on the statistics in this section can be found in the user guide. Before 2021, due to freedom of movement for European Union (EU) nationals, the vast majority of UK immigration control statistics related to non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. From 2021, unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this release relate to both EEA and non-EEA nationals.

Entry clearance visas allow an individual to enter and stay in the UK within the period for which the visa is valid. Data in this section refers to the number of Entry clearance visas granted for study reasons within the period. If an individual was granted a visa more than once in a given period, this has been counted as multiple grants in the statistics.

Year-on-year comparisons of the number of decisions can be affected by quarterly fluctuations in the data. These fluctuations can be examined in the quarterly data in the published tables. Year ending comparisons will also include impacts resulting from the travel restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.1 Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies

In order to be granted a sponsored study visa, a main applicant must get a ‘Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies’ (CAS) from their educational provider as evidence of an unconditional offer to study a course with a licensed student sponsor. Around 9 in 10 sponsored study visa applications are for the Higher Education Sector (such as universities), which has accounted for most of the growth in students in recent years.

3.2 Extension of temporary stay in the UK

Extensions of temporary stay in the UK relate to individuals inside the UK extending or changing the status of their right to stay in the UK. An individual is required to apply for an extension or change in status before their existing permission to enter or stay in the UK expires.

The statistics in this section show the number of grants and refusals on applications for extension of temporary stay in the UK. One individual may have made multiple applications for an extension, so may account for multiple decisions. Data in this section account for the outcomes of reconsiderations and appeals. The statistics do not show the number of people applying to extend their temporary stay in the UK, nor do they show how long an individual stayed in the UK following their extension.

3.3 Other sources

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish long-term international migration estimates. These are statistics under development that estimate the number of people immigrating to and emigrating from the UK for 12 months or more.

In January 2023, HESA published its latest ‘Higher Education Student Statistics UK’ for the academic year 2021 to 2022. HESA publishes data on new entrants to UK higher education providers for both EEA and non-EEA nationals.

In December 2023, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published their fourth annual report. This report includes analysis of how the immigration system is being used within and across the nations of the UK.

4. Data tables

Data on student immigration can be found in the following tables:

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