Glossary
The system's own vocabulary, in plain English. Terms link from the caveats scattered across the site.
- Illegal / irregular entry
- Entering the UK without a visa or permission to enter. The Home Office's statistical category is 'illegal entry routes'; some people entering this way go on to claim asylum, regularise their status, or be recognised as victims of modern slavery.
- Small boat
- A vessel (typically a rigid-hulled inflatable, dinghy or kayak) used to cross the English Channel with the aim of entering the UK without permission. Arrivals are counted when detected on or after arrival.
- Dispersal accommodation
- Longer-term housing procured by Home Office contractors for supported asylum seekers, spread across local authorities.
- Contingency accommodation
- Accommodation used when dispersal capacity runs out — mostly hotels, plus other sites. Hotels are a subset of contingency, and this site counts them separately.
- Initial accommodation
- Short-term accommodation on first entry to the support system, pending dispersal.
- Section 95 support
- Support (accommodation and/or subsistence) for destitute asylum seekers while their claim is being considered.
- Section 4 support
- Support for failed asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute and meet certain conditions.
- Section 98 support
- Emergency support while a Section 95 application is decided.
- Backlog (awaiting initial decision)
- People whose asylum claim has not yet received an initial decision. Counted in people and in cases (a case can cover a family).
- Grant rate
- The share of initial decisions that grant protection or other leave, calculated on cases at initial decision. Appeals change final outcomes; rates move with policy (pauses, country guidance) as well as caseload.
- Enforced return
- A return carried out or escorted by the state, typically from detention. Distinct from voluntary returns (which include assisted and controlled departures) and from people refused entry at port who then leave.
- FNO (foreign national offender)
- A person without British citizenship convicted of an offence. In prison statistics, nationality is as recorded by MoJ and is not immigration status — FNOs include lawful residents.
- FNOs living in the community
- FNOs subject to deportation action who are not detained — released on bail or at end of sentence while their removal is pursued or frustrated.
- Immigration detention
- Holding under immigration powers in removal centres, short-term facilities or prisons, normally pending removal or examination.
- NRM (National Referral Mechanism)
- The framework for identifying potential victims of modern slavery. An NRM referral is a safeguarding step, not a determination.
- Prevent / Channel
- Prevent is the counter-radicalisation safeguarding programme; a referral is a concern raised, not an offence. Channel is the multi-agency support stage for those assessed as at risk.
- Inadmissibility
- Rules allowing the Home Office to decline to consider an asylum claim from someone with a connection to a safe third country.
- YE vs FY vs calendar year
- Home Office statistics mostly use years ending March/June/September/December ('YE March 2026'); cost figures use financial years (April–March, 'FY 2024-25'); some series are calendar years. Every figure on this site states which period it covers.
- OGL
- The Open Government Licence v3.0, under which UK public-sector statistics are republished here with Crown copyright acknowledged.