The Home Office’s immigration statistics1 show that the Global Talent visa average success rate was 99.2% between 2024 and 2025. This figure reflects only the Home Office decision stage; it does not include endorsement refusals, which are assessed separately by endorsing bodies before the visa application reaches the Home Office.
There are some important points to note about this figure:
- It is based on entry clearance visa outcomes, meaning visas applied for outside the UK. In-country visa switches and extensions are not included.
- It measures the Home Office decision success rate. Lapsed and withdrawn applications are excluded.
- It does not reflect the overall success rate of the Global Talent visa process, because many applicants are refused at the endorsement stage before they ever reach the Home Office.
The Global Talent visa is a two-step process. First, the applicant must obtain an endorsement from an endorsing body that assesses their achievements. The endorsing body decides whether the applicant qualifies as a leader or a potential leader in their field. Second, if the endorsement is granted, the applicant can proceed to submit a Global Talent visa application to the Home Office, which assesses admissibility.
If an applicant does not obtain endorsement, it means the visa application cannot proceed. This is not a Home Office visa refusal; it is a refusal of eligibility by the endorsing body. This is why the Home Office success rate appears so high, as by the time an application reaches the Home Office, the most difficult hurdle has already been cleared.
Once endorsement is confirmed by the endorsing body, the Global Talent visa application is usually straightforward. However, the applicant must still meet the suitability requirements under the UK Immigration Rules. For example, the applicant must not have criminal convictions, must not have breached the immigration laws, and must not be on immigration bail. A failure to meet these requirements can still lead to a visa refusal even with a valid endorsement.
UK Global Talent visa endorsement success rate
The endorsement stage is where most refusals occur. According to the Home Office’s Global Talent visa evaluation2 published in 2024, 17,012 endorsement applications were made, and 4,769 endorsements were refused between April 2020 and April 2023. This gives an overall endorsement success rate of approximately 72% for that three-year period.
It is important to note that this data only covers the period between April 2020 and April 2023. No comprehensive data on endorsement outcomes has been published for more recent years. The endorsement success rate also varies significantly depending on the endorsing body and the field of expertise.
Endorsement success rates are not available for every endorsing body, but some data is available for some of the main ones, including Tech Nation and Arts Council England.
Tech Nation (Digital Technology)
Tech Nation’s Global Talent Visa Report 20243, covering 2019 to 2023, shows that endorsement success rates varied significantly depending on where the candidate was from. For example, the endorsement success rate for candidates from Singapore was more than 70%, while the success rate for candidates from Sri Lanka was around 20%.
It is important to note that this does not mean that applicants from Sri Lanka have a lower chance of being endorsed purely because of their nationality. Ultimately, whether you receive an endorsement depends on whether you meet the criteria set by the endorsing body. This data simply reflects the general trend among applicants from different countries during that period.
Arts Council England (Arts and Culture)
Arts Council England (ACE) has endorsed 2,622 visa applications4 from 2011 to 2023, representing a 76% success rate among all applications it assessed. However, the yearly endorsement rate has varied greatly – from as low as 15% in 2011 to as high as 89% in 2020.
The year 2022 saw the highest number of endorsements on record, with 563 endorsements; an increase of 41.5% on the previous record of 398 in 2020. The number of endorsement applications has been increasing year on year, which suggests growing interest in the arts and culture route.
Academic and research endorsing bodies
According to UKRI’s Global Mobility Evidence Report 20245, as of January 2025, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, and UKRI have issued more than 15,000 endorsements to international researchers applying for the Global Talent Visa during the five years since the scheme was launched, representing an overall success rate of around 89%.
Endorsed researchers have been placed at over 150 different research organisations across the UK. The high endorsement rate in this sector reflects the structured nature of academic career paths, where applicants can often demonstrate clear evidence of publications, grants, and peer recognition.
References:
1GOV.UK: Immigration system statistics data tables
2GOV.UK: Global Talent visa evaluation: Wave 2 report
3Tech Nation’s Global Talent Visa Report 2024
4EXCLUSIVE: ACE endorses 2,600 visas for ‘outstanding’ talent
