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Overview
International students make up a large share of long-term immigrants in the UK.¹ They contribute to the UK economy through their spending, and also subsidise the education of domestic students by paying higher tuition fees (MAC, 2018). But little is known about how international students fund their mobility.
What is known is that an increasing share of students came to the UK with partners and children. Students’ dependants who are over 18 are permitted to work full-time, in any job, while students study. In addition, since 2021, student dependants can work in the UK after the student’s graduation by obtaining a dependant Graduate Route visa. However, a ban introduced in January 2024 restricted the ability to bring dependants to postgraduate research students only. The subsequent drop in student visa applications raises questions about the role ‘dependants’ play in the UK.
Despite the importance of the topic, dependants’ participation in the UK labour market remains understudied. To shed light on this, this project will focus on Nigerians, the fastest-growing student population in the UK (+686% student visas in three years²) with high employment rates (43% of all Nigerian students in the UK were in employment according to the latest data³), and who bring the highest proportion of dependants (more than seven times the average for all nationalities in 2024, despite the ban)ª. Through an innovative multimedia participative methodology, this project will examine the role that dependants play in enabling Nigerian students’ mobility – and, by extension, the mobility of other international students bringing high numbers of dependants.
The findings of this phase of the research will feed into the development of a longitudinal project on dependants’ trajectories before and after students’ graduation, with a focus on dependants remaining in the UK on Skilled Worker or Graduate Route visas.
¹ See https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/.
² See https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2022/.
³ See latest release available: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/theinternationalstudentpopulationinenglandandwalescensus2021/2023-04-17.
ª Ratio dependants/main applicants for students in 2023: 0.31 for all nationalities; 1.27 for Nigerians. Ratio dependants/main applicants for students in 2024: 0.14 for all nationalities; 1.03 for Nigerians. Source: calculations based on Vis_D02 published 22 Aug. 2024, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics.
Principal Investigator
Researchers
Funding
John Fell Fund, University of Oxford
An innovative participatory multimedia methodology will be used for a pilot study at the University of Hertfordshire – the UK university with the highest number of Nigerian students in recent years. Nigerian students will be recruited by circulating invitations to join the study through admission services, student organisations, social media channels, and snowballing. The team will select a sample of a dozen postgraduate Nigerian students and their dependant partners (i.e. 24 research participants in total) – with a focus on master’s students who arrived in 2023.
Two filmed face-to-face interviews will be conducted with each student and each dependant (in the Spring and Summer 2025). Each participant will be interviewed separately. Participants' privacy and confidentiality will be protected by anonymising the interview transcripts. Multimedia data will be securely stored, and any footage used in reports will be processed in line with the CUREC application submitted in February 2025.
After the first interviews, each participant will receive guidelines for collecting footage. Participants will be invited to upload brief recordings documenting their activities in the UK. The research team will review the video diaries monthly and compensate RPs £20 vouchers for their uploads, as well as for their participation in the final round of interviews. The data analysis will inform the writing of the project outputs. Finally, the team will collaborate with the University’s video production team to produce a mini-documentary using the project-generated footage (Trinity Term 2026).
If you are eligible and interested in participating, please email us.
This project will produce knowledge relevant to better understanding and supporting contemporary student migration in the UK. The outcomes are structured around three pillars. The research will result in:
(1) academic publications that will inform scholarly and policy debates.
(2) a policy brief summarising practical recommendation, as well as a blog to be published by COMPAS.
(3) a mini-documentary showcasing Nigerian students’ stories and aspirations will be used for digital public engagement activities aiming at promoting more informed public perceptions about international students and their families.