UK records 529% surge in study visas applications

The government of the United Kingdom has said the number of sponsored study visas granted increased by over 500 per cent in the last two years.

The UK government said this on Thursday in a report stating the country’s immigration statistics as of March 2022.

According to the UK government, between March 2020 to March 2022, a total of 49,532 study visas were granted to Nigerians.

As stated in the report, as of March 2020, a total of 9,355 sponsored study visas were granted, but by March 2022, the figure had increased to 58,887.

Nigeria had the third-highest number of nationalities after China and India as of March 2022.

The report reads, “Chinese nationals were the most common nationality granted sponsored study visas in the year ending March 2022, with 116,967 visas granted, similar to the number seen in the year ending March 2020 (118,291).

“Although the overall number was similar, Chinese students accounted for only 25 per cent of the total number of sponsored study visas granted, the lowest proportion since the year ending March 2012 and much lower than the peak of 43 per cent in the year ending September 2019.”