About UKCISA:
International students: visa statistics
Who is an international student for visa purposes?
Entry Clearance and Leave to Enter statistics
Who is an international student for visa purposes?
Immigration statistics can be very confusing as
- categories have changed over recent years with the introduction of "student visitor visas" for those studying for less than six months, and then the "extended student visitor visa" for those studying English language for up to 11 months, and major changes to the student visa category itself with the introduction of the Points Based System in 2009.
- two sets of immigration statistics are produced, one for Entry Clearance (those who obtain a visa) and another for Passengers given Leave to Enter (those actually arriving). Entry Clearance statistics can over-count because they may include students who never actually use their visa, and Passengers given Leave to Enter may double count students who enter the country more than once on the same visa.
Entry Clearance and Leave to Enter statistics
Table 1: Figures for non-EU students given Entry Clearance to come to the UK:
| Students | Student visitors* | Total | |
| 2007 | 224,000 | 6,000 | 230,000 |
| 2008 | 209,000 | 42,000 | 251,000 |
| 2009 | 273,000 | 38,000 | 311,000 |
Table 2: Figures for students given Leave to Enter the UK
| Students | Student visitors* | Total | |
| 2006 | 309,000 | n/a | 309,000 |
| 2007 | 358,000 | 3,000 | 361,000 |
| 2008 | 227,000 | 143,000 | 370,000 |
| 2009 | 270,000 | 198,000 | 468,000 |
Source: Home Office Quarterly Statistical Summary, August 2010, Tables 1.1 and 1.2
* The introduction of the Student Visitor category in 2007 includes students coming to the UK for less than six months who would previously only have appeared in the Visitors statistics. The apparent rise in this category in subsequent years is therefore misleading, as comparable data for previous years cannot be disaggregated from the visitor statistics.
For a more detailed discussion of international student immigration statistics see the IPPR's publication Student migration in the UK (February 2011).
Visa statistics by country
The following tables showing student visas issued by nationality of applicant are derived from the Home Affairs Committee's 7th Report (2010-11) on Student Visas, Appendix 4
