Accredited official statistics

Why do people come to the UK? Study

Published 27 February 2025

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

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2024’ content page.

Data relates to 2024 and all comparisons are with 2023 (unless indicated otherwise).

In 2024, there were 393,125 sponsored study visas granted to main applicants, 14% fewer than in 2023 but 46% higher than 2019.

Between 2011 and 2016 sponsored study visa grants to foreign students were relatively stable at around 200,000 per year. 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 increased sharply, reaching a peak of 498,068 in the year ending June 2023. The number of visas issued have been decreasing gradually since, falling to 393,125 in 2024.

The large increase between mid-2020 and mid-2023 was due to a number of factors, including the lifting of COVID-19 related travel restrictions, along with changes to the Immigration System following the UK’s departure from the EU which ended free movement for many EEA nationals (excluding those with status on the EU Settlement Scheme or other indefinite leave to remain) and the introduction of the Graduate route allowing eligible students to remain in the UK for 2-3 years. At the same time, the International Education Strategy introduced a target for the UK to reach 600,000 international students per year by 2030.

In 2024 there were 21,978 visas issued to student dependants, 85% fewer than the previous year.

The decrease in visas issued to dependants of students followed a policy change for courses starting on or after 1 January 2024, whereby only researched-based postgraduate students are allowed to bring dependants (partners and children) to the UK. The restrictions may also have partly impacted the number of main applicant visas granted, which also decreased over the same period, albeit to a less extent. Policy changes are one of a number of factors that may have impacted visa application volumes.

Figure 1: Sponsored study visas granted by applicant type, 2014 to 2024

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows that there was around one dependant for every 20 main applicant visas granted to foreign students in the latest year, compared with 6 for every 20 in the year ending June 2023. There were sharp increases in both the number of main applicant and dependant visas granted between 2020 and 2023, although the number has fallen in 2024.

Figure 2: Sponsored study visas granted to the top 5 nationalities (main applicants), 2014 to 2024

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 2 shows that most of the increase in foreign students between 2019 and 2023 were from Indian and Nigerian nationals. However, numbers for these nationalities have fallen in the last 2 years, with Indian nationals decreasing 36% between 2022 and 2024 and Nigerian nationals decreasing 68% over the same period. Indian nationals accounted for the highest number of sponsored study visas granted each year between the year ending September 2022 and year ending June 2024, but are again second to Chinese nationals, as they were between 2018 and 2022.

There were 102,942 sponsored study visa grants to Chinese main applicants in 2024 (26% of the total), similar to the previous year. In the latest year, a majority (59%) of Chinese students came to the UK to study for a masters level qualification. Indian nationals accounted for 23% of the total and 4 out of 5 (80%) Indian students were studying at masters level.

Figure 3: Student visas granted to main applicants by course level, 2019 to 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 the trend in sponsored study visas in recent years has been mainly driven by those coming to study for a masters (accounting for 65% of study visas over the last 4 years). The number of grants to students coming to study at masters level increased each year between 2020 (following the pandemic and UK leaving the EU) and 2022 (up 150% to 314,911), but fell in the last 2 years – down 27% to 231,070 in 2024.

After masters, the most common level for student visas granted to main applicants was bachelors with 102,720 grants (27% of the total). This has remained fairly consistent with previous years, varying from 23% and 28% in the past 6 years. Visas for students at doctoral level or other course levels made up 12% of grants in 2024.

2. Extensions of Study

In 2024, 36,358 main applicants were granted an extension of their stay in the UK, allowing them to continue, or switch onto a sponsored study route. This was a 12% decrease compared with 2023.

Chinese main applicants were the largest nationality (34% of the total) granted an extension into sponsored study routes with 12,397 grants in 2024, but there were 14% fewer extensions than the previous year.

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, the vast majority (86%) held another study visa before their current study extension was granted. A further 9% previously held a work visa.

Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2023 report shows that of those non-EU foreign students arriving on a study visa since 2007, 14% still held valid or indefinite leave 10 years later (compared to 23% who came for work and 87% for family reasons). This suggests that most non-EU foreign students have not historically remained in the UK indefinitely.

The 2020 cohort is the first in which students on any course length could transfer directly to the Graduate route and take up employment. For this 2020 cohort of student arrivals, more than half (57%) still held valid or indefinite leave 3 years later, at the end of 2023 compared to 39% in the 2019 cohort and 34% on average 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 August 2024, HESA published its latest ‘Higher Education Student Statistics UK’ for the academic year 2022 to 2023. HESA publishes data on new entrants to UK higher education providers for both EEA and non-EEA nationals.

In December 2024, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published their fifth 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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