Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Student visas were granted to main applicants in each year since 2021.

Entry clearance officers receive full training and guidance on conducting credibility interviews and assessing the genuine student requirement. Decisions are made by trained decision makers in accordance with the Immigration Rules and published guidance, supported by quality assurance processes.

The Department's guidance on the Genuine Student requirement does not require applicants to compare study in the UK with study in other countries. Applications are assessed on their individual merits against the requirements of the Immigration Rules and the evidence available to the decision maker.

Where a credibility interview is conducted, the information obtained forms part of the evidence considered in reaching a decision. This may include consideration of the applicant’s reasons for studying in the UK, knowledge of their course, career plans and English language ability.

UKVI uses forecasting to inform operational resourcing and ensure sufficient capacity to meet anticipated demand. Student route applications are considered on their individual merits by trained decision makers in accordance with the Immigration Rules and published guidance, with established quality assurance processes supporting consistent and robust decision making.

Artificial intelligence and large language models are not used to make decisions on Student route applications. Where an application is refused, the decision is made by a trained decision maker, and the reasons are set out in the refusal notice. Standard refusal wording is available to support consistency, but where an application is refused under paragraph ST 5.1 of Appendix Student, the decision maker must set out the reasons for concluding that the applicant is not a genuine student, taking account of the individual circumstances and evidence.

The Home Office publishes data on Student visas granted to main applicants in the Immigration System Statistics.

Information on the proportion of Student route refusals reviewed by an Entry Clearance Manager, the number of Student route refusal notices identified as containing errors through quality assurance, and the number of applicants holding a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies who were refused entry clearance after their course start date had passed is not centrally held and could only be obtained and verified at disproportionate cost.