National statistics

Why do people come to the UK? To study

Updated 7 December 2023

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2023’ contents page.

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Data relates to the year ending September 2023 and all comparisons are with the year ending September 2022 (unless indicated otherwise).

Changes in visa numbers over recent years will reflect a range of factors including policy changes and the changes in travel patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic, so comparisons should be treated with some caution. For further discussion of the recent increases in visas see ‘Recent changes to visa numbers in Home Office data’.

1. Sponsored study visas granted to main applicants

For the year ending September 2023, there were 486,107 sponsored study visas granted to main applicants, similar to the year ending September 2022 (+2%) but almost double (+86%) the year ending September 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 1: Sponsored study visas granted to main applicants year ending September 2014 to 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. EEA includes Swiss nationals.
2. Since January 2021, EEA nationals now require a visa to study following the UK’s departure from the EU and the end of freedom of movement.

Figure 1 shows that compared to the pre-pandemic year ending September 2019, there has been an 86% increase in sponsored study visas granted to main applicants, although the number has been relatively stable over the last 2 years.

Since 2019 there has been an increase in sponsored study grants to non-EEA nationals, and a new cohort of EEA and Swiss nationals granted visas from January 2021, following the UK’s departure from the EU. However, visas to EEA and non-EEA nationals have both remained stable in the latest year ending with 23,038 and 463,069 grants respectively.

There was a sharp decrease in visa grants due to the pandemic, with the year ending September 2020 showing the lowest number of sponsored study grants since the time series began. The number of students granted a visa has since recovered.

Figure 2: Sponsored study visas granted to the top 5 nationalities (main applicants) between year ending September 2018 and 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 2 shows that there were 133,237 sponsored study visa grants to Indian nationals in year ending September 2023, a small increase of 5,804 (+5%) compared to the year ending September 2022 but their number are now nearly 5 times higher than in the year ending September 2019. Indian nationals accounted for over one-quarter (27%) of all sponsored study grants to main applicants in the latest year.

Chinese nationals were the second most common nationality granted sponsored study visas in year ending September 2023, with 108,978 visas grants (22% of the total). Grants to Chinese nationals decreased by 7% compared to the preceding year. Chinese and Indian nationals together comprised half (50%) of all sponsored study grants.

Nigerian nationals were issued 51,071 sponsored study visas in the year ending September 2023, similar to the previous year but around 8 times the number in the year ending September 2019.

Of the top 5 nationalities granted sponsored study visas, Pakistani nationals saw the largest percentage increase, up 33% to 33,150 in year ending September 2023.

Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2022 report shows that most foreign students do not remain in the UK indefinitely. Around 4 in 5 of those arriving on study routes had expired leave 5 years later. 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).

In July 2021, the Graduate route was introduced which allows eligible students to stay in the UK to work or look for work after completing their studies, re-establishing a form of Post-Study Work.

A total of 104,501 Graduate route extensions were granted to former students in the year ending September 2023 (excluding dependants). Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the Graduate route, representing 43% of grants.

2. Dependants of sponsored study visa holders

In the year ending September 2023, almost one-quarter (24%) of all sponsored study related visas granted were to dependants of students (152,980), compared to 5% (14,839) in the year ending September 2019.

Sponsored study visa holders may be able to bring partners and children (‘dependants’) to the UK.

Since 2019, both the total number of dependants and the proportion of all sponsored study related visas granted to dependants have increased. This may reflect a change in the composition of students coming to study in the UK with more students coming for higher education compared to before the pandemic (see section 3). Students coming to study at a higher level are typically older and might be more likely to have already established a family.

Figure 3: Visas granted to student dependants for Indian, Nigerian and other nationalities, and proportion of all sponsored study related visas issued to dependants, year ending September 2019 to 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 3 shows that in the year ending September 2023, around two-thirds (68%) of visas issued to dependants of students were issued to 2 nationalities – Indians and Nigerians.

Part of the increase in dependants is linked to the increase in main applicants (see section 1) but there have also been large increases in dependants of Indian and Nigerian nationals. There were 60,506 dependants of Nigerian nationals in the year ending September 2023, an increase of 59,079 compared to 2019 and 9,435 more visas issued than to main applicants in the same period. Indian nationals had the second highest number of dependants, increasing from 2,127 to 43,445 in the same time period.

3. Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) used for sponsored study visas to main applicants

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. A CAS is considered ‘used’ in applications for sponsored study visas when an applicant receives a decision on their visa application. Dependants do not require a CAS. The CAS data allows us to present the number of students applying to study in the 4 main educational sectors.

In the year ending September 2023, there were just under half a million (497,797) CAS used in a study visa application, 8% more than the year ending September 2022 and almost double the number in the year ending September 2019.

Figure 4 shows that over 9 out of 10 (451,259 or 91%) CAS used were for higher education (university) institutions. The Higher Education sector has accounted for the majority of the growth in the number of CAS used since the year ending September 2019, more than doubling over the period (an increase of 229,212). Other institutions increased by 27% (or 9,798 applications) over the same period.

Figure 4: Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) used for sponsored study visas by institution year ending September 2023

Source: Study sponsorship (Confirmation of acceptance for Studies) – CAS_D01

4. Short term study

Not every person will require a visa for short-term study in the UK. For example, non-visa nationals are permitted to come to the UK and undertake up to 6 months of study without requiring a separate study visa and are therefore not included in these statistics. Data on non-visa nationals coming for short-term study is not available but prior to the pandemic the largest numbers arriving by this route were nationals of the United States.

Figure 5: Short-term study visas granted between the year ending September 2018 and September 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

People who require a visa to come to the UK for short-term courses lasting up to 6 months, can now apply for a Standard Visitor visa (as of December 2020), and are included in the visitor visa data. Short-term travel to the UK was severely reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and then since the end of 2020 there have been far fewer short-term study visas as a result of the changes to the Standard Visitor visa. People arriving on this route are not allowed to bring family members (‘dependants’).

For those visa nationals who require a visa to undertake short-term study, figure 5 shows that there were 4,691 short-term study visas granted in the year ending September 2023 compared to 5,102 in the preceding year.

Further information on the number of visitor visas granted can be found in the ‘How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)’ topic.

5. 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.

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.

5.1 Student (sponsored study)

The Student visa has replaced the Tier 4 (General) Student visa as of 5 October 2020. It provides a route for students aged 16 and over to study with an approved education provider in the UK.

5.2 Child Student (sponsored study)

The Child Student visa has replaced the Tier 4 (Child) Student visa as of 5 October 2020. It provides a route for students between the ages of 4 and 17 years old to study at an approved independent school in the UK.

5.3 Tier 4 (sponsored study)

Tier 4 (sponsored study) provided a route for students to study with an approved education provider. It was implemented from 31 March 2009, replacing previous entry routes for study. It has been discontinued since 5 October 2020 and has been replaced with the Student and Child Student routes.

5.4 Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

From October to December 2019, the method for extracting in-country and out-of-country CAS data has changed. Data quality issues identified as part of this change in methodology has meant that some cases from January to March 2020 onwards are unable to be separately identified as either a visa or extension case, and so have been categorised as unknown.

To apply for a Student visa or for an extension of stay as a student (sponsored), individuals must use a CAS from a sponsoring educational institution. Study visas applied for with a CAS are also referred to as Sponsored visa applications. Statistics relating to sponsored acceptances for study measure the number of decided sponsorship applications in the 4 main educational sectors: universities (higher education), tertiary, further education and other colleges, independent schools and English language schools.

5.5 Short-term study

The current Short-term study visa (previously described as ‘Student visitor’) is for English language courses lasting longer than 6 months and up to 11 months. Individuals with this visa cannot extend their stay. People coming to the UK for short-term courses (lasting up to 6 months) can apply for a Standard Visitor visa. Admissions data shows considerably more short-term student admissions from non-EEA nationals than Short-term student visas granted. This is due to many student visitor admissions being from nationalities that are not required to obtain a visa if they wish to come to the UK as a short-term student for 6 months or less (such as US nationals).

5.6 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.

6. Data tables

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

• Entry clearance visas summary tables
• Detailed Entry clearance visa datasets
• Sponsorship summary tables
• Detailed sponsorship datasets
• Admissions summary tables
• Extensions summary tables
• Detailed extensions datasets

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