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Visas: Overseas Students

Question for Home Office

UIN HL2678, tabled on 25 October 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the claim that only one per cent of international students break the terms of their visa by refusing to leave after their course ends.

Answered on

17 November 2016

The independent Office for National Statistics has confirmed that the International Passenger Survey continues to be the best source of information to measure long-term international migration.

Data collected at the border does not record passengers' onward travel plans or duration of stay, so cannot be used to measure migration figures. Over time the data obtained through exit checks will contribute to the statistical picture and the ONS data on net migration figures, but it will not replace the current IPS survey.

We do not recognise the 1% figure as the proportion of international students that overstay. The Home Office is continuing to assess and analyse elements of the exit check data collected in relation to specific cohorts to understand the extent to which estimates provided are statistically robust. This level of detail is not yet available.

Answered by

Home Office