The Home Office published its quarterly immigration statistics on 27 August 2026, covering the year to June 2026. Three figures matter to anyone finishing a UK degree and looking for a sponsored job.
Fewer visas, more refusals
Visas issued on the Skilled Worker route fell 26% to 61,120 in the year to June 2026. Main applicants fell 30% to 26,894 and dependants 23% to 34,226. Across the Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker routes together, applications dropped from 509,075 in the year to December 2023 to 114,466, and the share of decisions that were refusals rose from 7% to 15%.
The fall is mostly the end of the care-worker boom and the July 2025 rule changes, which lifted the skill threshold back to degree level and raised the general salary threshold to £41,700. Fewer jobs qualify, so fewer people apply.
Technology is still the largest occupation
IT professionals remained the most common Skilled Worker occupation among main applicants, at 4,674 visas, down 7%. That is a smaller fall than the route as a whole, which is the one encouraging line in the release for software, data and platform roles.
The Graduate route is busier than ever, for now
Graduate route extensions fell 39% to 157,356, led by Indian (64,495), Pakistani (22,383) and Nigerian (20,604) nationals. From 1 January 2027 the route lasts eighteen months instead of two years for anyone below doctorate level, so the class of 2026 has one recruitment cycle less to find a sponsor.
What JLocate does with the numbers
The Pro outlook shows these decisions for your own nationality: visas issued and refused, switches granted inside the UK, and grants by occupation code, with the share of all grants that went to people with your passport. They are counts of what happened to others, published under the Open Government Licence, never a prediction for one application. The check on every job on the JLocate board, whether it can sponsor you at the rate that applies to you, is free.