As of 25 September 2026, the Home Office register of licensed sponsors contained 143,127 entries. Those entries represented 127,283 distinct organisations as of 28 September 2026, because one organisation can hold several entries (one per route or rating).
The Skilled Worker route accounted for 128,521 entries as of 28 September 2026. In the 30 days to 3 October 2026, 884 organisations joined the register and 801 left it. The register does not publish the reason an organisation leaves.
Key figures
- 143,127 entries on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors (as of 25 September 2026)
- 127,283 distinct organisations holding a licence (as of 28 September 2026)
- 128,521 entries on the Skilled Worker route (as of 28 September 2026)
- 99.9% of active entries are A-rated (as of 28 September 2026)
- 884 organisations newly on the register in the last 30 days (as of 3 October 2026)
- 801 organisations no longer on the register in the last 30 days (as of 3 October 2026)
What this page measures
This page tracks the Home Office register of licensed sponsors, the public list of employers authorised to sponsor skilled workers and other visa routes. The register is fetched weekly from GOV.UK. Entries are compared snapshot to snapshot to count how many join and leave. Organisations are identified by normalised name, so one organisation can hold several entries. Companies House matching is by organisation name only (no postcode), so not every organisation matches. Job adverts are matched to register entries by employer name.
The register is a live dataset that changes every week. Each snapshot captures the state of the register at a particular moment. By comparing snapshots over time, this page tracks the flow of organisations entering and leaving the sponsorship system. The data provides insight into which sectors are most active in the sponsor licence market, how many licensed employers are actually recruiting, and what happens to organisations after they leave the register. Because the register itself does not explain why an organisation departs, this page links leavers to Companies House records to show whether they remain active businesses or have been dissolved.
Headline numbers
The register held 143,127 entries as of 25 September 2026. Those entries represented 127,283 distinct organisations as of 28 September 2026. The Skilled Worker route accounted for 128,521 entries as of 28 September 2026.
Of active entries, 99.9 per cent were A-rated as of 28 September 2026. In the latest weekly snapshot on 25 September 2026, 290 entries were added and 377 were removed.
The difference between entries and organisations matters because a single employer can appear multiple times on the register. An organisation that sponsors both Skilled Workers and Senior or Specialist Workers will hold two separate entries. Likewise, an organisation downgraded from A-rated to B-rated may appear twice during the transition period. The headline count of 127,283 organisations reflects the true number of distinct employers, after accounting for these duplicates. The A-rating indicates that an organisation has met its sponsorship duties and has no compliance concerns. The overwhelming majority of sponsors maintain this rating, which is required to issue most Certificates of Sponsorship.
Monthly changes
In the 30 days to 3 October 2026, 884 organisations joined the register and 801 left it. Since tracking began on 23 May 2026, 2,891 organisations have left the register as of 3 October 2026.
Register entries added and removed by month
| Month | Added | Removed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 1,633 | 1,190 |
| 2026-08 | 1,441 | 1,183 |
| 2026-09 | 1,168 | 1,140 |
Source: Home Office register, SkilledJobs weekly mirror. Complete months since July 2026; tracking began 22 May 2026
The register does not publish the reason an organisation leaves. Of the organisations that left the register since May 2026, 79 per cent of those with a Companies House match were still active companies as of 3 October 2026. A further 14.6 per cent of matched leavers were dissolved as of the same date.
The monthly flow of organisations on and off the register reflects both business decisions and Home Office compliance actions. An organisation may leave because it no longer needs to sponsor workers, because it has ceased trading, or because its licence was withdrawn or surrendered. The fact that 79 per cent of leavers remain active companies suggests that most departures are voluntary rather than the result of business failure. However, the 14.6 per cent dissolution rate is higher than the background rate for all UK companies, indicating that some sponsors do leave the register because they have stopped trading altogether.
Weekly snapshots
The register is fetched weekly. The table below shows the number of entries in each snapshot, and how many entries were added or removed compared with the previous week.
Weekly register snapshots
| Snapshot fetched | Register CSV date | Entries | Added | Removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-22 | 2026-07-22 | 142,545 | 1,555 | 1,178 |
| 2026-07-27 | 2026-07-24 | 142,567 | 78 | 72 |
| 2026-08-03 | 2026-07-31 | 142,649 | 325 | 295 |
| 2026-08-10 | 2026-08-07 | 142,697 | 263 | 253 |
| 2026-08-17 | 2026-08-14 | 142,738 | 277 | 285 |
| 2026-08-24 | 2026-08-21 | 142,821 | 271 | 211 |
| 2026-08-31 | 2026-08-28 | 142,988 | 305 | 173 |
| 2026-09-07 | 2026-09-04 | 143,081 | 250 | 170 |
| 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-11 | 143,129 | 302 | 273 |
| 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-18 | 143,168 | 317 | 325 |
| 2026-09-28 | 2026-09-25 | 143,127 | 290 | 377 |
Source: Home Office register of licensed sponsors, weekly snapshots
Weekly snapshots reveal the pace of change on the register. Some weeks see more additions than removals, causing the register to grow. Other weeks see the opposite. The weekly rhythm reflects the Home Office processing cycle for new applications and the timing of licence surrenders and withdrawals. Seasonal patterns may emerge over a longer tracking period, as certain sectors recruit more heavily at particular times of year. The snapshot date and the CSV date sometimes differ by a few days because the published CSV file is generated from the register database at a specific point, then uploaded to GOV.UK shortly afterwards.
Sectors leaving the register
Organisations that left the register since 23 May 2026 were matched to Companies House by name. The table below shows the sectors of those leavers, classified by their first Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) division. Not every organisation matched to a company record.
Sectors of organisations that left the register (last 12 months, by first Companies House SIC division)
| SIC division | Sector | Organisations | Share of all leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Food and beverage service | 235 | 8.1% |
| 87 | Residential care | 193 | 6.7% |
| 47 | Retail | 157 | 5.4% |
| 62 | Computer programming and consultancy | 154 | 5.3% |
| 86 | Human health | 142 | 4.9% |
| 78 | Employment activities | 120 | 4.2% |
| 46 | Wholesale | 92 | 3.2% |
| 88 | Social work (non-residential) | 77 | 2.7% |
Source: Companies House, SIC 2007. Leavers without a Companies House match are counted in the total but not in sector shares
The sectoral breakdown of leavers shows which industries are most affected by turnover on the register. Some sectors have high entry and exit rates because they include many small businesses with fluctuating sponsorship needs. Other sectors, such as health and education, tend to have more stable sponsor populations because their need for overseas workers is ongoing. The SIC division is a broad industrial category, so the table groups leavers into major sectors such as professional services, construction, retail, and manufacturing. Not every organisation that leaves the register can be matched to a Companies House record, either because it is not a limited company or because the name matching algorithm fails to find a confident match.
Companies House status of leavers
Of the organisations that left the register since 23 May 2026 and matched to a Companies House record, the table below shows their company status as of 3 October 2026.
Companies House status of organisations that left the register (last 12 months)
| Status | Organisations |
|---|---|
| Active | 1,636 |
| No Companies House match | 819 |
| Dissolved | 302 |
| Liquidation | 66 |
| Administration | 48 |
| Registered | 6 |
| Voluntary arrangement | 5 |
| Closed | 4 |
| Open | 3 |
| Removed | 1 |
| Insolvency proceedings | 1 |
Source: Companies House
The company status table distinguishes between organisations that remain active and those that have been dissolved, liquidated, or placed in administration. An active company that has left the register may have done so because it no longer sponsors workers, because it switched to a different immigration route, or because it surrendered its licence for administrative reasons. A dissolved company, by contrast, has ceased to exist as a legal entity. The presence of companies in liquidation or administration suggests that some sponsors leave the register because of financial distress. However, the majority of leavers remain active, indicating that departure from the register does not necessarily signal business failure.
How many licensed employers are hiring
Of the 127,283 licensed organisations as of 28 September 2026, only 3,464 advertised at least one job in the 30 days to 3 October 2026. That represents 2.7 per cent of licensed organisations as of the same date.
Job adverts from Adzuna, NHS Jobs, Teaching Vacancies and employer feeds were matched to the register by employer name. The table below shows the most advertised occupations at licensed organisations in the last 30 days.
Most advertised occupations at licensed organisations (last 30 days)
| SOC 2020 | Occupation | Adverts |
|---|---|---|
| 2237 | Other registered nursing professionals | 1,330 |
| 2212 | Specialist medical practitioners | 1,218 |
| 6113 | Educational support assistants | 864 |
| 2313 | Secondary education teaching professionals | 826 |
| 6112 | Teaching assistants | 804 |
| 6135 | Care workers and home carers | 769 |
| 6131 | Nursing auxiliaries and assistants | 746 |
| 2222 | Occupational therapists | 733 |
| 2223 | Speech and language therapists | 557 |
| 2225 | Clinical psychologists | 523 |
Source: SkilledJobs job snapshots
The low share of licensed organisations actively hiring suggests that many sponsors hold a licence as a precaution or for occasional use rather than for continuous recruitment. Some organisations may sponsor a small number of workers and then not recruit again for months or years. Others may have obtained a licence in anticipation of future need but have not yet used it. The occupations table shows which roles are most commonly advertised by licensed sponsors. These are not necessarily the roles being sponsored, because employers advertise many jobs that do not require sponsorship. However, the table does indicate the sectors and skill levels where licensed employers are most active in the labour market.
What changed since the last update
This is the first edition of this page; the next refresh will show what has changed.
How we calculate this
The Home Office register of licensed sponsors is fetched weekly from GOV.UK. Each snapshot is compared with the previous one to count entries added and removed. Organisations are identified by normalised name; one organisation can hold several entries (one per route or rating).
Organisations that left the register are matched to Companies House by name only (no postcode), so not every organisation matches. Job adverts from Adzuna, NHS Jobs, Teaching Vacancies and employer feeds are matched to register entries by employer name. The register does not publish the reason an organisation leaves, so this page does not speculate.
Frequently asked questions
How many organisations hold a UK sponsor licence?
As of 28 September 2026, 127,283 distinct organisations held a licence. The register contained 143,127 entries as of 25 September 2026, because one organisation can hold several entries (one per route or rating).
How many organisations join and leave the register each month?
In the 30 days to 3 October 2026, 884 organisations joined the register and 801 left it. The register does not publish the reason an organisation leaves.
What percentage of licensed employers are A-rated?
As of 28 September 2026, 99.9 per cent of active entries on the register were A-rated.
How many licensed organisations are actually hiring?
In the 30 days to 3 October 2026, 3,464 licensed organisations advertised at least one job. That represents 2.7 per cent of the 127,283 licensed organisations as of 28 September 2026.
Are organisations that leave the register still trading?
Of the organisations that left the register since 23 May 2026 and matched to Companies House, 79 per cent were still active companies as of 3 October 2026. A further 14.6 per cent were dissolved.
Download the data
Download the tables as CSV (data as of 28 September 2026).
Sources
- Register of licensed sponsors: workers (GOV.UK)
- SkilledJobs UK sponsor list (weekly mirror of the register)
- Companies House
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Updated 3 October 2026. This page is refreshed automatically when new data is published; figures carry the date they are true for. Permanent link: https://millionaire.news/uk-sponsor-register-statistics/
Last verified: 2026-10-03
