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Why do people come to the UK? Study

Published 21 May 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2026/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-study

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2026’ contents page

This release goes up to the year ending (YE) March 2026. The “year ending” period includes the 12 months up to and including the YE month. For example, YE March 2026 includes the 12 months between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.

Sponsored study visa grants have decreased slightly over the last year, with dependant grants stabilising following policy changes.

In the YE March 2026, there were 409,954 Sponsored Study visas grants, 3% less than the previous year, and 37% fewer than the peak in YE June 2023. This included 391,572 main applicants – 3% less than YE March 2025 – and 18,382 dependants – at a similar level to the previous year. The number of Sponsored Study visas granted to dependants have been lower since January 2024. This follows policy changes restricting the ability of students to bring dependants, with grants 88% lower in the latest year compared to the peak in the YE June 2023 before the policy changes were introduced. However, numbers have settled over the last 2 years.

Figure 1: Sponsored Study visas granted by applicant type, YE March 2011 to YE March 2026

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Between 2011 and 2016 Sponsored Study visa grants to foreign students and their dependants were relatively stable at around 200,000 per year with the majority (92%) being main applicants. After 2016 the numbers steadily increased, reaching 284,721 in the YE December 2019. Following a fall during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visas issued increased sharply, to a peak of 652,072 in the YE June 2023. This increase followed the lifting of COVID-19 related travel restrictions, along with changes to the immigration system following the UK’s departure from the EU, including the introduction of the Graduate route allowing eligible students to remain in the UK for 2 to 3 years. At the same time, the International Education Strategy introduced a target for the UK to receive 600,000 international students per year by 2030.

Figure 2: Sponsored study visas granted to the top 5 nationalities (main applicants), YE March 2016 to YE March 2026

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 2 shows Indian nationals were the most common nationality being granted Sponsored Study visas in the YE March 2026, with 90,425 visas issued to main applicants (23% of the total). These were closely followed by Chinese students with 88,776 (23%) visas granted. The third most common nationality was Nigeria with 28,405 (7%) study visas granted.

Notable year-on-year changes for individual nationalities in the latest year include decreases for Pakistani (down 27%) and Chinese students (down 15%) and an increase for Nigerian students (up 33%).

Figure 3: Student visas granted to main applicants by course level, YE March 2020 to YE March 2026

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 the trend in Sponsored Study visas in recent years has been mainly driven by those coming to study for a masters (accounting for over 60% of study visas over the last 6 years).

The number of grants to students coming to study at masters level increased each year following the pandemic and the UK leaving the EU, but subsequently fell between YE March 2023 and YE March 2026 – down 25% from 311,286. The number of visas granted for masters level in the latest year (234,992) is 3% fewer compared to the previous year.

After masters, the most common level that international students came to study was bachelors with just over 100,000 grants on average in each of the last 5 years and 109,483 grants in the latest year (29% of the total).

2. Extensions of study

Study-related extensions for main applicants were slightly lower in the latest year compared with the previous year. In contrast, extensions for dependants fell more sharply, likely reflecting the impact of policy changes introduced in January 2024 that restricted eligibility.

In the YE March 2026, 33,750 main applicants were granted an extension of stay in the UK to study, enabling individuals to continue their studies or, for those not previously studying, to switch onto a Sponsored Study route. This was 4% lower than the previous year.

During the same period, 4,378 extensions of stay grants were issued to dependants of those studying in the UK, 28% lower than the previous year. The fall in the number of dependant grants may reflect the changes introduced in January 2024, which restrict most international students on taught courses from bringing dependants to the UK. The grants observed in the latest year likely relate to those who remain eligible under the current rules, such as students on postgraduate research programmes, including PhDs, in addition to dependants of those who started their course before the changes came into effect.

Chinese (10,868), Indian (5,152), and Nigerian (3,562) nationals were the most common nationalities extending their stay on the Student route in the latest year. Together, these 3 nationalities accounted for over half of all sponsored study extensions, reflecting the higher numbers of these nationals granted study visas in recent years.

The Graduate route allows eligible international students who have successfully completed an eligible UK degree to remain in the UK for up to 2 years (3 years for PhD graduates) to work or look for work. Graduate route extension grants fell by 36% in the YE March 2026, decreasing to 167,214 compared with YE March 2025. This decline was primarily driven by a sharp reduction in grants issued to dependants, falling by 75% over the same period.

The highest numbers of Graduate extensions were issued to Indian (70,371), Pakistani (24,404) and Nigerian (22,099) nationals. Despite this, extension grants for each of these nationalities fell compared with the previous year, with the most pronounced decline observed among Nigerian nationals, where grants fell by nearly two-thirds.

2.1 Additional insights from the Migrant journey: 2025 report

The Migrant journey: 2025 report shows that amongst the 179,161 people whose journey started on a Sponsored Study visa in 2020, 41% still held valid or indefinite leave to remain at the end of 2025 (5 years later).

The recent increase in the proportion of students remaining in the UK 5 years after arrival largely reflects higher rates of transition from the Study route into Work routes, particularly the Skilled Worker route. For cohorts arriving between 2011 and 2015, only 3% to 4% of students had moved into a Work route after 5 years. This proportion rose to 10% for the 2018 cohort, increased further to 14% for the 2019 cohort, and reached 26% for the 2020 cohort, the majority of whom were on the Skilled Worker route.

Historically, most students’ journeys finished at the end of their studies. Of those starting their studies between 2011 and 2018, around a third continued to hold valid leave after 3 years (decreasing to around 20% after 5 years). However, more recent student arrivals appear to be more likely to remain in the UK beyond their studies - with nearly 60% of students starting their studies in 2020 and 2021 holding valid leave after 3 years. This increased to 64% for the 2022 cohort.

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.

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 accounts 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 Home Office also publishes monthly updates on study applications, from 2022 onwards - see ‘Monthly statistical releases on migration’ for further information.

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 2026, HESA published its latest ‘Higher Education Student Statistics UK’ for the academic year 2024 to 2025. HESA publishes data on new entrants to UK higher education providers for both EEA and non-EEA nationals.

In December 2025, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published their sixth 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:

We welcome your feedback

If you have any comments or suggestions for the development of this report, please provide feedback by emailing MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please include the words ‘PUBLICATION FEEDBACK’ in the subject of your email.

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See Section 6 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.

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