The information requested is set out in the following tables.
Please note that it is not possible to break down the data for the financial year 2003-04.
Number Total number of student visas issued in FY 2003-04 146538
Financial Year Age 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Grand total Over 18 159,258 167,559 183,391 187,940 698,148 Under 18 26,818 30,282 36,395 33,326 126,821 Grand total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969
Financial Year Gender 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Grand total Female 85,911 92,162 99,265 100,537 377,875 Male 100,130 105,660 120,497 120,715 447,002 Unknown 20 17 12 10 59 Indeterminate 15 2 12 4 33 Grand Total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969
Financial Year Nationality 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Grand total Afghanistan 52 73 119 97 341 Albania 278 319 482 522 1,601 Algeria 309 266 434 497 1,506 Andorra 1 5 3 9 Angola 269 351 390 379 1,389 Anguilla — — — 0 0 Antigua and Barbuda 7 10 24 18 59 Argentina 139 186 210 216 751 Armenia 142 141 194 187 664 Australia 764 757 771 877 3,169 Austria — — — 1 1 Azerbaijan 451 470 523 587 2,031 Bahamas 39 75 101 84 299 Bahrain 580 548 637 645 2,410 Bangladesh 2,237 2,976 3,531 3,691 12,435 Barbados 118 177 158 132 585 Belarus 568 701 811 829 2,909 Belgium — — — 1 1 Belize 4 16 17 19 56 Benin 31 36 39 26 132 Bermuda — 1 1 — 2 Bhutan 18 14 17 15 64 Bolivia 91 123 138 90 442 Bosnia and Herzegovina 162 171 133 138 604 Botswana 257 260 357 388 1,262 Brazil 1,078 4,421 3,621 4,271 13,391 British Citizen 4 2 1 1 8 British Dependent Territories — 0 0 1 1 British National Overseas 3,784 3,369 3,032 2,808 12,993 British Overseas Citizen 2 6 6 5 19 British Subject 1 0 0 — 1 Brunei 405 541 659 907 2,512 Bulgaria 682 644 653 1 1,980 Burkina 17 18 17 11 63 Burma (Myanmar) 287 348 318 407 1,360 Burundi 11 3 9 10 33 Cambodia 40 28 35 43 146 Cameroon 455 426 437 590 1,908 Canada 2,235 2,458 2,563 2,964 10,220 Cape Verde 8 8 10 45 71 Cayman Islands — 2 0 1 3 Central African Republic 8 2 6 2 18 Chad 12 7 11 14 44 Chile 220 270 351 430 1,271 China 21,489 18,449 21,408 25,186 86,532 Colombia 2,673 2,782 3,367 4,660 13,482 Comoros 4 5 1 1 11 Congo 90 46 88 70 294 Costa Rica 2 17 24 28 71 Croatia 710 791 193 195 1,889 Cuba 45 46 70 52 213 Cyprus 52 53 20 17 142 Czech Republic 1 1 2 Democratic Rep of Congo 55 62 60 60 237 Denmark — — — 0 0 Djibouti 5 8 9 12 34 Dominica 18 35 28 19 100 Dominican Republic 33 31 43 42 149 Ecuador 445 408 456 440 1749 Egypt 570 536 1,300 1,159 3,565 El Salvador 11 19 14 14 58 Equatorial Guinea 16 10 20 31 77 Eritrea 26 17 19 9 71 Ethiopia 152 156 121 135 564 Fiji 14 16 16 17 63 Gabon 41 30 56 40 167 Gambia 444 449 431 405 1729 Georgia 569 540 655 742 2506 Germany — 0 2 1 3 Ghana 1,829 1,010 1,236 921 4,996 Gibraltar — — — 0 0 Greece — — — 2 2 Grenada 21 40 47 27 135 Guatemala 12 19 20 21 72 Guinea 92 91 68 61 312 Guinea-Bissau 12 10 17 14 53 Guyana 74 87 91 75 327 Haiti 15 13 15 9 52 Honduras 4 10 8 17 39 Hong Kong 2,077 2,058 2,329 2,572 9,036 Hungary 1 1 — 0 2 Iceland — 1 — 1 2 India 17,591 19,891 22,129 23,293 82,904 Indonesia 864 671 694 672 2,901 Iran 1,303 1,654 2,064 2,316 7,337 Iraq 130 255 320 447 1,152 Ireland — 1 0 0 1 Israel 813 1920 663 316 3,712 Italy — — — 1 1 Ivory Coast 213 103 159 131 606 Jamaica 227 224 185 212 848 Japan 8,750 8,559 8,053 6,486 31,848 Jordan 898 904 1,005 974 3,781 Kazakhstan 4,407 5,032 6,365 4,323 20,127 Kenya 1,074 875 985 931 3,865 Kiribati 1 1 1 — 3 Korea (North) 10 6 3 3 22 Kuwait 773 725 893 1,064 3,455 Kyrgyzstan 220 302 382 269 1,173 Laos 10 14 5 2 31 Latvia 1 — — 1 2 Lebanon 414 395 390 330 1,529 Lesotho 10 11 21 10 52 Liberia 8 9 9 13 39 Libya 2,759 3,262 3,590 2,544 12,155 Lithuania 1 — — 1 2 Macau 40 77 90 108 315 Macedonia 135 222 179 211 747 Madagascar 28 28 27 25 108 Malawi 315 501 399 554 1,769 Malaysia 4,784 4,642 4,668 5,473 19,567 Maldives 12 89 89 89 279 Mali 30 15 31 41 117 Mauritania 15 23 32 30 100 Mauritius 1,353 1,552 1,146 907 4,958 Mexico 1,120 1,276 1,344 1,574 5,314 Moldova 209 216 184 115 724 Monaco — 2 3 2 7 Mongolia 185 208 321 931 1,645 Morocco 594 416 439 367 1,816 Mozambique 61 53 34 27 175 Namibia 43 31 45 30 149 Nauru — 0 0 0 0 Nepal 428 621 927 1,095 3,071 Netherlands — — — 1 1 New Zealand 155 155 141 212 663 Nicaragua 5 3 11 9 28 Niger 14 16 19 11 60 Nigeria 8,175 6,958 7,612 8,484 31,229 None 8 8 1 4 21 Norway — — 1 — 1 Oman 1,177 1,023 1,227 1,161 4,588 Pakistan 11,156 9,383 12,209 9,544 42,292 Palestinian Authority 94 80 121 77 372 Panama 7 24 23 35 89 Papua New Guinea 13 11 6 3 33 Paraguay 9 12 19 25 65 Peru 401 405 473 437 1,716 Philippines 1,708 1,272 907 2,050 5,937 Pitcairn Islands — — — 0 0 Poland 2 — 0 0 2 Portugal 0 — — — 0 Qatar 432 532 712 925 2,601 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 17 12 10 7 46 Romania 855 963 682 2 2,502 Russia 10,338 14,014 22,368 20,947 67,667 Rwanda 50 59 61 74 244 San Marino 1 2 2 2 7 Sao Tome And Principe 25 49 46 5 125 Saudi Arabia 3,349 3,717 4,732 7,535 19,333 Senegal 69 74 124 154 421 Seychelles 1 — 2 2 5 Sierra Leone 234 217 275 192 918 Singapore 1,019 885 1,056 1,006 3,966 Slovakia 2 0 1 — 3 Solomon Islands 5 1 2 2 10 Somalia 15 3 4 4 26 South Africa 451 522 500 473 1946 South Korea 7,447 8,332 7,071 6,577 29,427 Soviet Union — — — 1 1 Spain 1 0 0 — 1 Sri Lanka 1,823 1,930 2,572 2,516 8,841 St. Helena 0 — — — 0 St. Kitts And Nevis 9 12 20 11 52 St. Lucia 55 97 81 62 295 St. Vincent 18 53 62 40 173 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 59 41 37 28 165 Sudan 585 651 430 398 2064 Surinam 2 6 2 3 13 Swaziland 38 31 18 21 108 Sweden 0 — — 0 0 Switzerland — 0 2 0 2 Syria 668 772 877 615 2,932 Taiwan 9,214 9,575 9,415 6,647 34,851 Tajikistan 53 100 91 66 310 Tanzania 786 932 1,100 926 3,744 Thailand 4,875 5,095 5,042 4,325 19,337 Togo 36 14 31 20 101 Tonga — 6 3 5 14 Trinidad And Tobago 381 439 468 483 1,771 Tunisia 125 144 272 472 1,013 Turkey 4,599 8,052 9,003 7,881 29,535 Turkmenistan 290 432 203 171 1,096 Turks And Caicos Islands — — — 1 1 Tuvalu 0 1 — 0 1 Uganda 859 592 527 566 2544 Ukraine 1,678 1,370 1,717 1,738 6,503 United Arab Emirates 1,310 1,080 1,120 1,270 4,780 United Nations 4 2 2 11 19 United States 8,815 8,950 9,258 11,800 38,823 Unknown 97 117 116 89 419 Unspecified Nationality 183 142 130 255 710 Uruguay 13 17 22 27 79 Uzbekistan 414 830 1359 865 3,468 Vanuatu 1 — — 0 1 Venezuela 125 378 519 785 1,807 Vietnam 1,401 1,437 1,575 1,941 6,354 Western Samoa 2 3 0 1 6 Yemen 321 275 303 285 1,184 Yugoslavia 1,510 1,460 1,149 1,112 5,231 Zambia 512 474 456 571 2,013 Zimbabwe 784 741 459 372 2,356 Grand total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969 Notes: 1. Data for FY 2003-04 is taken from published Entry Clearance Statistics 2. Data for April 2004 - March 2008 was taken from the Central Reference System on 2 July 2008 3.This data is provisional and unpublished and should be treated as such
[holding answer 7 July 2008]: Since 2005 the “Gap Year Entrant for Work in Schools” entry category has been in operation as a concessionary arrangement outside the immigration rules. It allows overseas students age 17-19 to take employment in a teaching/teaching assistant capacity in schools in the UK for 12 months prior to commencing their degree level studies overseas. The total number of visas issued in this category is as follows.
Number 2005 794 2006 807 2007 803
While estimated future demand for visas is confined to broader entry categories (e.g. visitors, students, employment, settlement), the demand for gap year work visas has clearly been steady around 800 per year.
It should be noted that some gap year students also enter under the Working Holiday Scheme for young Commonwealth citizens, and under the concession for voluntary workers outside the immigration rules. However, no data are available for these entrants as it is not possible to distinguish them from others entering in these categories.
[holding answer 7 July 2008]: All our existing youth mobility-type provisions, including the concession for Gap Year Entrants for Work in Schools, are to be abolished later this year when the new international Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) is launched under Tier 5 of the Points Based System (PBS). Details of the Youth Mobility Scheme are set out in the Statement of Intent for Tier 5 of the PBS, which was published on 8 May. Participants in the new scheme will be free to do most work of choice, including work in schools.
Since the phasing out of border controls in 1994, no Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. That includes students participating in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme who subsequently failed to return to their country of origin at the end of their placement. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately, and that remains the case.
As part of the Government’s 10-point plan for delivery, by Christmas 2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This will build on the successes of our early testing of the e-Borders programme (Project Semaphore) which already covers over 30 million passenger movements and has led to 18,000 alerts and more than 1,500 arrests.
This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain, and ID cards for foreign nationals.
On 19 June 2008, the Government set out their plan to more robustly enforce the immigration rules by developing and strengthening partnerships with the police, local authorities and enforcement agencies to shut down the privileges of the UK to those breaking the rules. Copies of the document are in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at.
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/?requestType=form& view=Search+results&simpleOrAdvanced=simple&page=1& contentType=AII&searchTerm=enforcing+the+deal&Submit=Go