Census 2021 data on international student population of England and Wales by country of birth, passport held, age, sex and other characteristics.
These datasets are part of the release: The changing picture of long-term international migration, England and Wales: Census 2021. Figures may differ slightly in future releases because of the impact of removing rounding and applying further statistical processes.
Figures are based on geography boundaries as of 1 April 2022.
This release includes comparisons to the folllowing 2011 Census data:
Quality notes can be found here
Quality information about demography and migration can be found here
Quality information about labour market can be found here
Usual resident
A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021 was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.
International student
An international student is defined as someone who was a usual resident in England and Wales and meets all the following criteria:
- in-full-time education
- non-UK-born
- non-UK passport holder
- aged 17 years or over upon most recent arrival in the UK
- aged 18 years or over on Census Day.
Country of birth
The country in which a person was born. The following country of birth classifications are used in this dataset:
- Country of birth 12a: Political groupings of countries by EU membership and geographical location for non-EU countries.
- Country of birth 190a: Individual countries. This classification includes geographical groupings for low volume countries.
- Country of birth (3 categories): These categories have been derived from country of birth 12a and include all UK countries in "Europe: United Kingdom", all EU countries in "Europe: EU countries" and all remaining countries including British Overseas territories in "Non-EU countries (including British Overseas)".
More information about country of birth classifications can be found here.
Passports held
The country or countries that a person holds, or is entitled to hold, a passport for. Where a person recorded having more than one passport, they were counted only once, categorised in the following priority order: 1. UK passport, 2. Irish passport, 3. Other passport. The following classifications were created for this dataset for comparability with other international migration releases:
- Passports held (4 categories): High level political groupings of passport held by EU membership and geographical location for non-EU countries.
- Passports held (12 categories): Political groupings of passport held by EU membership and geographical location for non-EU countries.
- Passports held (150 categories): Individual countries for passport held. This classification includes geographical groupings for low volume countries.
More information can be found here
Economic activity status
The economic activity status of a person on Census Day, 21 March 2021. The following classification is used in this dataset:
Industry
The industry worked in for those in current employment. The following classification was used for this dataset:
Student accommodation
Student accommodation breaks down household type by typical households used by students. This includes communal establishments, all student households, households containing a single family, households containing multiple families, living with parents and living alone.
More information can be found here
Second address indicator
The second address indicator is used to define an address (in or out of the UK) a person stays at for more than 30 days per year that is not their place of usual residence. Second addresses typically include: armed forces bases, addresses used by people working away from home, a student’s home address, the address of another parent or guardian, a partner’s address, a holiday home. There are 3 categories in this classification.
Detailed description can be found here
Main language (detailed)
This is used to define a person's first or preferred language. This breaks down the responses given in the write-in option "Other, write in (including British Sign Language)". There are 95 categories in the primary classification.
More details can be found here
Proficiency in English language
Proficiency in English language is used to determine how well a person whose main language is not English (English or Welsh in Wales) feels they can speak English. There are a total number of 6 categories in this classification.
More details can be found here
