Baroness Lawlor: Home Office: Written Answers (2)

Written Question

Overseas Students

Wednesday 7th August 2024

Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)

To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants who have arrived in the UK in the past three years for which figures are available are (1) overseas students who are taking (a) undergraduate degrees, (b) post-graduate degrees, and (c) other courses, and (2) the families or dependents of overseas students; what proportion of legal migrants each of those categories represents; and what arrangements are in place for monitoring their departure.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Table: Sponsored study visas by visa routes, applicant type, and course level

	Year ending March 2022	Year ending March 2023	Year ending March 2024	Total (last 3 years)
Student visas (of which):	451,467	611,685	544,231	1,607,383
Main applicants (of which):	379,542	463,365	432,750	1,275,657
Bachelors level	100,996	107,819	106,545	315,360
Below bachelors level	19,102	22,711	22,193	64,006
Doctoral level	10,434	10,085	10,347	30,866
Masters level	233,857	313,670	283,595	831,122
Other and unknown²	15,153	9,080	10,070	34,303
Dependants	71,925	148,320	111,481	331,726
Child student visas	13,248	13,158	14,174	40,580
Total - sponsored study visas	464,715	624,843	558,405	1,647,963

There were 3,646,179 visas granted on routes that typically enable migrants to come to the UK ‘long-term’¹ between Q2 2021 and Q1 2024, with sponsored study (both for main applicants and dependants) representing 45% of these.

Footnotes:

To distinguish ‘migrants’ from people coming to the UK short-term, the data excludes visitor, transit, short-term study, and temporary worker visas (except Youth Mobility Scheme). The figure includes visas that typically enable a migrant to come to the UK for a year or more. However, some may be for less than a year. Not everyone issued a visa will arrive or stay in the UK for the entire period allowed by their visa. This total will also exclude those who do not require a visa to come to the UK (for example those with Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme).
‘Other and unknown’ refers to pre-sessional English language courses and visas with courses unable to be identified.

Departures from the UK are recorded for most journeys. However, there are instances in which a departure may not be recorded, for example those who travel via the Common Travel Area. Those who do remain in the UK after their permission has expired will be considered as overstayers and will be liable for detention and enforced removal.

Written Question

Asylum

Wednesday 31st July 2024

Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of migrants arriving in the UK in the past five years have tried to seek asylum.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum on gov.uk as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum is published in table Asy_D01 of the Asylum detailed datasets. In the five years up to the end of March 2024, 333,282 people claimed asylum (including main applicants and dependants). Individuals must be in the country to apply for asylum; some will apply immediately upon arrival, but others may be in the country for a period of time before applying.

It is not possible to estimate precisely what proportion of migrants claim asylum in the UK. However, ONS estimate that in the last 5 years, 4.82 million people immigrated to the UK for 12 months or more. This includes EU, non-EU and British nationals. It will not include people who arrive irregularly and do not claim asylum, nor short-term migrants (i.e. those coming to the UK for less than 12 months).