UNITED KINGDOM
UK Licensed Sponsor Register: What the Numbers Show
The register dated 9 October 2026 lists 126,661 organisations licensed to sponsor workers. 121,369 of them can sponsor Skilled Worker visas. Below are counts by visa route, by town and by the words in organisation names, and the same tables as CSV files.
Source: Register of licensed sponsors: workers, GOV.UK. We count organisations by normalised name, so a company with several entries is counted once per table.
Key figures
| Organisations on the register | 126,661 |
| Entries (one per organisation and route) | 143,206 |
| Organisations licensed for more than one route | 12,931 (10.2%) |
| Organisations with a B rating | 93 (0.1%) |
| Different towns written in the register | 6,346 |
| Organisations with no town | 1 |
A rating means the organisation meets the Home Office requirements. A B rating means it has to improve and is not allowed to issue new certificates until it does.
Organisations by visa route
Skilled Worker accounts for 121,369 organisations. The other routes are far smaller.
| Route | Organisations | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | 121,369 | 123,178 |
| Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker | 10,309 | 10,442 |
| Tier 2 Ministers of Religion | 1,946 | 1,961 |
| Creative Worker | 1,572 | 1,585 |
| Charity Worker | 1,528 | 1,531 |
| International Sportsperson | 1,448 | 1,473 |
| Religious Worker | 1,426 | 1,434 |
| Global Business Mobility: Graduate Trainee | 620 | 622 |
| Global Business Mobility: UK Expansion Worker | 431 | 431 |
| Government Authorised Exchange | 243 | 247 |
| International Agreement | 134 | 134 |
| Scale-up | 92 | 93 |
| Global Business Mobility: Service Supplier | 56 | 56 |
| Seasonal Worker | 6 | 6 |
| Global Business Mobility: Secondment Worker | 6 | 6 |
| Tier 2 General | 5 | 5 |
| Intra-company Routes | 1 | 1 |
| Intra Company Transfers (ICT) | 1 | 1 |
Towns with the most licensed sponsors
London alone has 36,438 organisations (28.8% of the register). The ten largest towns together account for 50,631 (40.0%).
| # | Town | Organisations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 36,438 | 28.8% |
| 2 | Birmingham | 3,071 | 2.4% |
| 3 | Manchester | 2,861 | 2.3% |
| 4 | Leicester | 1,408 | 1.1% |
| 5 | Glasgow | 1,364 | 1.1% |
| 6 | Bristol | 1,286 | 1.0% |
| 7 | Edinburgh | 1,165 | 0.9% |
| 8 | Leeds | 1,077 | 0.9% |
| 9 | Nottingham | 1,043 | 0.8% |
| 10 | Ilford | 918 | 0.7% |
| 11 | Reading | 905 | 0.7% |
| 12 | Coventry | 904 | 0.7% |
| 13 | Slough | 856 | 0.7% |
| 14 | Cambridge | 837 | 0.7% |
| 15 | Milton Keynes | 835 | 0.7% |
| 16 | Harrow | 810 | 0.6% |
| 17 | Bradford | 733 | 0.6% |
| 18 | Liverpool | 730 | 0.6% |
| 19 | Luton | 704 | 0.6% |
| 20 | Sheffield | 683 | 0.5% |
| 21 | Oxford | 628 | 0.5% |
| 22 | Cardiff | 609 | 0.5% |
| 23 | Bolton | 586 | 0.5% |
| 24 | Southampton | 568 | 0.4% |
| 25 | Belfast | 533 | 0.4% |
The town is whatever the organisation wrote in its application, so one place can appear under several spellings and some London boroughs are listed under their own name. We merge only different upper and lower case spellings. Download the top 40 as CSV
Organisation names that contain a word
The register has no sector field. These counts show how many organisation names contain one of the words, which is only a hint of what the organisation does.
| Name contains | Organisations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| care | 5,049 | 4.0% |
| health, medical, nursing, dental, clinic, hospital | 3,824 | 3.0% |
| school, academy, college, university, nursery | 2,217 | 1.8% |
| restaurant, kitchen, cafe, takeaway, grill, pizza, curry | 1,978 | 1.6% |
| software, digital, technology, data, systems | 3,330 | 2.6% |
| construction, engineering, building | 1,925 | 1.5% |
Using this data
You may use these figures and the CSV files freely. If you publish them, please link to this page. The underlying register is published by the Home Office and changes often, so check the date above and the original register before relying on a number.
To look for open jobs at licensed sponsors, see UK visa sponsorship jobs. A listing there is marked only when the job text says it, and a company on the register is matched by exact name.
Frequently asked questions
How many UK organisations are licensed to sponsor workers?
The register dated 9 October 2026 lists 126,661 organisations in 143,206 entries. An organisation has one entry for each visa route it is licensed for.
How many of them can sponsor Skilled Worker visas?
121,369 organisations, which is 95.8% of the register.
Which UK towns have the most licensed sponsors?
By the town written in the register, London (36,438), Birmingham (3,071), Manchester (2,861), Leicester (1,408), Glasgow (1,364). Organisations that do not give a town are not counted in this ranking.
Does being on the register mean a company is hiring?
No. The register shows that the Home Office has licensed the organisation to sponsor workers. It does not show vacancies, and a licence does not mean the organisation will sponsor you for a particular job.
JobsByCountry is not a legal or immigration adviser.