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Visas: Overseas Students

Answer

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas and in-country extensions by visa type and nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Table 1 contains data on the requested nationalities for sponsored study visa grants and table 2 contains data on the requested nationalities for extensions on sponsored study visas. The data provided is for main applicants and dependants. Not everyone granted a visa, or extension, will currently be in the UK. The latest data is up to the end of December 2025.

The Home Office publishes the Migrant Journey report which provides data on the number of individuals who hold valid Study-related leave, by nationality, at the end of a given year within their immigration journey. Data on the number of migrants holding valid leave on a study route at the end of a given year are published in table MJ_D01 of the Migrant Journey detailed dataset and table 3. Not everyone with valid leave will currently be in the UK – the dataset counts people with valid immigration status rather than confirmed presence in the country. The latest data is up to the end of December 2024.

Table 1 – Grants on Sponsored Study Student visas, year ending 2021 to year ending 2025

Nationality	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Afghanistan	329	819	1,853	454	277
Cameroon	411	537	568	385	536
Myanmar	487	1,124	1,575	1,778	2,084
Sudan	308	341	290	262	242
China	119,045	103,804	109,974	104,626	89,272
Nigeria	42,969	118,896	95,498	27,170	37,090

Table 2 – Grants on Sponsored Study Student extensions, year ending 2021 to year ending 2025

Nationality	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Afghanistan	10	17	37	13	45
Cameroon	59	39	64	56	44
Myanmar	79	178	294	227	279
Sudan	64	75	101	54	47
China	8,770	23,442	14,704	12,734	11,076
Nigeria	3,788	4,707	5,015	4,649	3,894

Table 3 – Number of journeys where an individual held sponsored study leave at the end of 2024

Nationality	Journeys
Afghanistan	1,255
Cameroon	885
Myanmar	3,009
Sudan	583
China	221,855
Nigeria	89,022

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL15400

Session

2024-26

Subjects

Overseas students Visas

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk