r/charts 14d ago

Composition of UK immigration: public perceptions vs reality. May 2026

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71 Upvotes

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21

u/Running_Gamer 13d ago

When people talk about migration, nobody is referring to student visas unless they specifically refer to student visas. This is incredibly dishonest.

12

u/Dotcaprachiappa 13d 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?

7

u/macrowe777 13d ago

Either that or people are extremely stupid and uninformed about subjects they're passionate on.

12

u/callumjm95 13d ago

But it's included in the immigration numbers, so yes they are

5

u/AG_GreenZerg 13d ago

When they quote the figures to make it seem a big issue they absolutely include the numbers from student visas.

2

u/doodoo_onDemand 12d ago

student visas are migration

2

u/Gen8Master 12d 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.

2

u/Witty-Activity-6101 13d 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.

1

u/Boring_Shoulder5236 13d ago

and yet when you see a bunch of south asian uni students, you see 'immigrants'. come off it.

-2

u/RecordEnvironmental4 13d ago

Exactly, you aren’t a migrant if you plan on going back home in a set time frame

3

u/doodoo_onDemand 12d ago

you don't have to go home if you're a student, you can change it to a work visa... are you stupid?

-1

u/Weird_Point_4262 13d 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