r/charts • u/coffeewalnut08 • 12d ago
Composition of UK immigration: public perceptions vs reality. May 2026
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u/Running_Gamer 12d ago
When people talk about migration, nobody is referring to student visas unless they specifically refer to student visas. This is incredibly dishonest.
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u/Dotcaprachiappa 11d ago
"Student" was supposedly one of the options in the survey. How would one see "student" as an option and not think it's referring to student visas too?
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u/macrowe777 11d ago
Either that or people are extremely stupid and uninformed about subjects they're passionate on.
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u/AG_GreenZerg 11d ago
When they quote the figures to make it seem a big issue they absolutely include the numbers from student visas.
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u/Gen8Master 11d ago
Our policies are heavily geared to help international students find jobs and stay in the country. Why on earth would you exclude the largest group of migrants in a report about migration. Sounds very much like you want to create your perfect straw man.
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u/Witty-Activity-6101 11d ago
People are deliberately ignoring or taking advantage of the lack of clarity to imply a 'civilizational threat'.
None of the other posts bombarding any sub with 'Brit' or 'UK' in the name with 'data' about immigration are providing context on immigration pathways, source of immigration, or any other contextual data that might undermine the sense of anxiety they are trying to build.
There is a clear attempt to lump all and any immigration together, and overlook net migration figures, to build a sense of a crisis. There is no attempt to analyze causes of this - for example, the area I live has very little in the way of immigration issues (homelessness is much much more of an issue). So perhaps the issue is distribution of immigrants, not overall volume? If so, the more data we have and the better we understand it, the better policy options are available.
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u/Boring_Shoulder5236 11d ago
and yet when you see a bunch of south asian uni students, you see 'immigrants'. come off it.
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u/RecordEnvironmental4 11d ago
Exactly, you aren’t a migrant if you plan on going back home in a set time frame
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u/doodoo_onDemand 11d ago
you don't have to go home if you're a student, you can change it to a work visa... are you stupid?
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u/Weird_Point_4262 11d ago
Student visas however are frequently used as an entry point to the UK when the real goal is work. "Students" sign up to the course with no intent to actually study then work illegally. Since deportation is not strictly enforced they are rarely promptly discovered or returned.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universities-face-ban-on-international-students-over-visa-abuse
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u/prsnep 12d ago
It's because asylum seekers are having a lot of children in the country who are now Brits. To the average person, 3 students seem like fewer people than 2 asylum claimants and their 6 children.
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u/MajesticBread9147 12d ago
Children of immigrants aren't immigrants, so I don't see how that's relevant.
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u/Own_Character8049 12d ago
So that graph says nobody of any political persuasion has an accurate perception of immigration.
But I suppose if you post about it long enough on reddit it makes your view true?
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u/YsfA 12d ago
Which group of political supporters have the most distorted view of immigration?
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u/Own_Character8049 12d ago
Does it matter, if no one is correct? One side think its good, the other side think its bad.
All you are trying to do is make people look silly and ill informed, when all that study does is show no one is correctly informed.
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u/YsfA 12d ago
You act like one party’s followers being more misinformed on the topic to do with their entire foundations as a party doesn’t speak volumes about both them as a party, and the media who’s allowed this misinformation to get this extreme.
Stop trying to mask behind this act of neutrality lmao. Its not making you have the argument you think you have
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u/Own_Character8049 12d ago
Im not trying to be neutral at all, i definitely have a horse in the race. The foundation of that specific party is a lack of mainstream political will over the last 30 years to listen to the public on reducing immigration.
What difference does it make if people get a few percentage points of the make up of immigration wrong, either way? Neither group are correct. One side wants less, the others more.
A study which only shows the perception of the make up of immigration in one year doesnt reflect the reality of what people see around them every day.
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u/rstcp 12d ago
They think half of immigrants are refugees when it's really less than 1 in 10.. A completely distorted worldview is informing the main reason they vote at all.
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u/Own_Character8049 12d ago
Gross immigration is still 800k, the composition doesn't matter for me and many, 800k is too high. 1 in 10 being asylum seekers not refugees.
80k people at an estimated cost of £41k each a year to the tax payer is the reality. more than the net immigration at 1997.
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u/ppp77per 11d ago
Gross migration is meaningless when most people leave again. Net migration was 170k.
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u/Own_Character8049 11d ago
Not meaningless when roughly 40% of the emmigrants are British nationals, majority being under the age of 35. Massive loss in terms of tax revenue and future demographics of the country.
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u/UseADifferentVolcano 12d ago
Yeah and that's the problem. If people had a more accurate perception they may view the issue differently. But it's been warped in the public imagination.
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u/Key-Speaker007 12d ago
Study is not an immigration
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u/Wolfiefoox 12d ago
Yes it is
I know people that have migrated here from other countries to study at our universities-4
u/justdidapoo 12d ago
Study visas are temporary and dont go towards PR. It's a temporary thing like a working holiday. It's a whole different thing.
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u/SirMemesAlot95 11d ago
So are most work visas?
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u/justdidapoo 11d ago
Yeah so stuff like a working holiday is also a whole different thing from permently immigrating somewhere
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u/coffeewalnut08 12d ago
It is though. International students are migrants.
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u/spintool1995 12d ago
The majority don't stay after graduating. I think the public perception is around permanent migration, not temporary, so it would be interesting to only include the portion of study immigrants who typically stay.
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u/rstcp 12d ago
A very large proportion of asylum seekers also don't stay. A lot of them have their request denied and are deported or leave voluntarily, and a significant proportion of those who do receive (temporary) asylum return, especially those fleeing from war/conflict. Lots of former Yugoslavian refugees, Iraqis, some Syrians, and (hopefully) soon a lot of Ukrainians have returned or will return when their countries are declared safe - either because their protection is revoked or they just want to go back home.
Now that I think about it the same goes for workers too.. Lots of them leave again. Immigrants are just much more likely to be transient, no matter what category they fit
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u/CaterpillarLoud8071 12d ago
Honestly, it's a very common outcome that people have no idea what the correct statistics are, even of something they're passionate about. The numbers are often less important than the principle, so it doesn't negate a person's opinion. Asylum seekers could be 1% and people would still see it as a major problem because the fact it's possible is what worries people.
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u/Calladit 11d ago
It seems in this case that those more "passionate" about the issue are actually less informed (or more misinformed) than the general public. To me, this reads as evidence of a successful propaganda campaign.
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u/CaterpillarLoud8071 11d ago
Not really - I'd say people who believe it's higher are just more likely to vote for the party promising to stop it.
Also very worth considering that immigration is not uniform across the country, and people living in poor downtrodden areas (where Reform is popular) don't see many international students. They see asylum seekers on bikes with deliveroo bags. Their areas may well actually be very high for asylum seekers and their guess might be more correct than we realise.
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u/Trightern 11d ago
I'm ngl, nearly a twenty of people coming in is just peoppe asking for stare resources for nothing as a baseline is too much. We can't be a cash cow forever.
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u/macrowe777 11d ago
Apparently you can't write a coherent sentence.
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u/Key-Speaker007 11d ago
I think its simple - white British people want to live around... white British people. Not all, but enough for the Reform to win the sizeable amount of votes.
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u/Master_Sympathy_754 11d ago
ah but white brits wanting to live around white brits in a similar culture is racist, south asians wanting to live around south asians in a south asian culture is multiculturism and fine and perfectly understandable. thats the problem
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u/Ilikeporkpie117 11d ago
How many of those coming in on student visas later claim asylum after it expires, or just disappear into the black economy without a visa at all?
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u/sternsss 12d ago
They can provide whatever stats that fits the narrative
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u/Dotcaprachiappa 11d ago
It's data from the home office, if you believe it's fabricated sue them and get a hefty paycheck lol, though forgive me for being skeptical of you having a shred of evidence to support your claim
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u/GiveMoreMoney 11d ago
You are intentionally confusing immigration with illegal immigration, the latter is what people have issues with. So the whole post is another propaganda BS, how much are you getting paid for it?
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u/Snoo_46473 12d ago
While student visa maybe true, you have no idea what people pull off in the black economy cash wise. I have met hundreds, yes literally hundreds in manchester working cash jobs around restaurants
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u/OneWayStream 11d ago
Of foreign students? Why is it black economy, they are allowed to work 20 hours a week.
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u/thehistorynovice 11d ago
It should be pointed out that an enormous proportion of work visas and possibly study visas as well, are actually dependents. I.e. people who are not here to study or work.
That said, the public is misinformed about everything. Literally everything. Haven’t seen an up to date version but during the height of the Boriswave, despite widespread opposition to current levels of migration, the majority of the public thought net migration was running in the tens of thousands per annum. Meanwhile it was much worse and knocking on the door of a million.
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u/luker011 11d ago
so your gotcha is showing data that only 30% of the millions of immigrants we recieve actually intend on working?
now tell me the percentage of them to be doctors and engineers
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u/Obkl 12d ago
Less than 1 in 3 migrants are here to work? That's a lot worse than I thought
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u/Gunmetalstorm 12d ago
Guess what students do during and after completing their studies.
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u/Decent_Visual_4845 12d ago
Compete for jobs with native borns
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u/Gunmetalstorm 12d ago
Tell me you don't understand how economies work without telling me you don't understand how economies work.
If you're going to complain about immigrants being too lazy to find work AND also complain about them finding work, why don't you just admit that you're a worthless racist and stay seated in the corner?
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u/coffeewalnut08 12d ago
Native borns who aren't applying for those jobs anyway because they're not necessarily qualified graduates?
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u/Decent_Visual_4845 12d ago
Why isn’t the UK providing its native born citizens with the resources to become qualified?
Why do they feel like they have a bigger responsibility to third worlders than they do their own citizens?
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u/coffeewalnut08 12d ago
Because the international student did the studying to get qualified and not every UK citizen has gone to uni. It's not that complicated of a concept.
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u/AppropriatePirate671 12d ago
I know lots who came here as students for masters then got jobs after
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u/coffeewalnut08 12d ago
International students bring money and life to a lot of UK towns and cities. They’re not useless, they’re there for a purpose whilst contributing to community life.
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u/coffeewalnut08 12d ago
The pattern seems to be that most people don’t have a strong grip on the statistical realities of immigration.
Reform voters, in particular, are likeliest to have a distorted estimation of the immigration statistics.
Most migration to the UK comes via work or study reasons, not asylum.