Visa holders entering the UK under the Ukraine Humanitarian Schemes, Outcomes Survey: 27 February to 13 March 2023

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• The majority (75%) of all adults who responded to the survey said that their English has "significantly or moderately" improved since coming to the UK over eight months ago. 

• Over half (59%) of adults were not aware that funding for English language courses may be available for them. 

• The majority (61%) of adults were employed or self-employed, and 68% of these adults did not work in the same sector as they had done in Ukraine; of adults who were not currently working, 82% said they intended to seek employment in the UK.

• Over half (57%) of those who have applied for a job in the UK experienced difficulties, with their level of English remaining a barrier (32%).  

• Half (49%) of adults living with dependent children indicated that childcare responsibilities limited their ability to take up work in the UK; most (78%) can only work part-time, and 12% are not able to work at all. 

• Two-thirds (65%) of adults were "not very or not at all" confident that they would be able to rent a place of their own if they had to find new accommodation within the next three months.

In March 2022, the UK government launched two visa schemes to support those displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These schemes, referred to as Ukraine Humanitarian Schemes, allow Ukrainian nationals and their family members to apply to stay in the UK for up to three years. The Ukraine Family Scheme allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to join family members already residing in the UK. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor who can provide accommodation. 

The Humanitarian Outcomes Survey was compiled following the findings on the experiences and needs of Ukrainians in the UK from the UK Humanitarian Response Insight Surveys. This latest survey adds to the evidence base of individuals' experiences and needs, that can be used to identify ways to best support this group.

The survey is based on 3,510 Ukrainian adults who participated in the UK Humanitarian Response Insight Survey in April or June 2022, agreed to be recontacted, provided a valid email address, and responded to this survey. Ukrainians from both schemes were invited to take part in the research.  

Unless specified otherwise, the statistics in this bulletin are based on respondents who were in the UK at the time of the survey or were outside of the UK only temporarily (for example, on a holiday). A minority of respondents permanently living outside of the UK were excluded, unless specified otherwise. 

More information on the types of visa schemes and collecting the data can be found in Section 5: Glossary and Section 6: Measuring the data.

Accommodation 

Almost half (49%) of all adults who first arrived in the UK by June 2022 have since changed their address. This was most commonly because they could afford to live in their own accommodation without being hosted (38%), or because they reached the end of their agreed hosting period (17%).  

When asked how likely they were to move out of their current accommodation in the next three months, most (69%) said they were "unlikely or very unlikely" to do so. 

The current living arrangement for 40% of adults was living with a sponsor, compared with 31% who were renting privately and 16% who were living with family or friends. Of all adults not currently renting from a private landlord, one-quarter (24%) have tried to access privately rented accommodation since arriving in the UK. 

The Humanitarian Outcomes Survey also found that two in three (65%) of all adults were "not very or not at all" confident that they would be able to rent a place of their own if they had to find new accommodation within the next three months. This includes those who are already living in private rented accommodation, and those who are not. Most (68%) of those who are not confident said this was because they would not be able to afford the rent.

More than half of adults (53%) said they experienced difficulties accessing private rented accommodation in the UK. Most struggled because they had no credit history (69%), no guarantor or references (50%), or because they could not afford to rent with their own income (45%).

To understand difficulties experienced in accessing private rented accommodation, the survey asked what support would be most beneficial. About half (51%) reported that help with finding places to rent would be useful, as well as help with deposits or other up-front payments (48%).

English language 

Three-quarters (75%) of adults reported that their English has improved significantly or moderately since first arriving in the UK over eight months ago. Adults found that using English in day-to-day life (29%) and attending English language courses (28%) were most helpful for this improvement.

Overall, the majority of adults said they can speak "fluently or a fair amount" in English (56%) or can read "most things or a fair amount" in English (60%). Just under half (45%) can write "most things or a fair amount" in English. A small number of adults cannot speak (3%), read (4%) or write (7%) in English.

More than half (56%) of adults had taken an English language course in the UK. The majority were "satisfied or fairly satisfied" with the course (87%) and said that their English has improved "to a great extent or somewhat" as a result of taking the course (72%). Some attendees experienced difficulties when trying to access English language courses, the most common difficulties were: 

• finding a course available at a suitable time (35%) 

• finding a course in their local area (29%) 

• finding a course suitable to their English level (23%) 

• finding a course with available spaces (23%) 

Of adults who had never taken an English course, the main reasons were that they did not need it (42%) or that they were prevented by their working hours (23%). Of all adults, over half (59%) were not aware that funding for an English language course might be available for them.  

Over a third (36%) of all adults reported that their level of English has caused them difficulties in accessing public services, such as healthcare or education, with the vast majority (87%) struggling to explain their problem or request.

Labour market 

Most adults (61%) are employed or self-employed. The majority (68%) do not work in the same sector as they did in Ukraine. The most common reasons for working in a different sector included: 

• taking any available job (55%) 

• English language skills not meeting job requirements (48%) 

• qualifications not being recognised or valid in the UK (24%) 

There was also a discrepancy between the sectors adults were working in, and the sectors they would prefer to work in. Although 23% of those employed worked in hospitality, only 6% wanted to work in this sector. Similarly, while 8% were working in retail (including wholesale), only 4% said this would be their preferred sector.  

Analysis also revealed that more adults would prefer to work in some sectors than the number that were currently working in them. For example, 16% of adults said they would prefer to work in the information technology and communication sector, while only 10% reported that they were currently working in that sector.

Most employed adults worked full-time (36%), and the majority of them (94%) indicated this was their preferred type of employment contract. This compares with those in part-time jobs (18%), where over half (58%) would prefer to work full-time. 

Adults who were not currently working (39%) were asked if they intended to seek employment in the UK. The majority (82%) said they intended to, most commonly in these sectors: 

• information technology and communication (14%) 

• arts, entertainment or recreation (11%) 

• teaching and education (10%) 

Barriers to employment 

Most adults (72%) have applied for a job in the UK since arriving. Of these, over half (57%) experienced difficulties in applying, with the most common problems being: 

• English language skills making it difficult to apply (32%) 

• not knowing how to write CVs in the UK (10%) 

• lack of IT skills (10%) 

However, most adults (63%) reported they had experienced a difficulty other than that listed on the survey. 

When asked if having some help with applying for jobs in the UK would be beneficial to them, 38% of all adults thought it would; they mainly asked for support with interview preparation (67%), job searching (61%) and getting qualifications recognised in the UK (60%). 

Over a third (38%) of all adults said they had experienced difficulties in being able to take up work in the UK, with the most common being: 

• English language skills not meeting job requirements (54%) 

• not been able to find a suitable job close enough to where they live (37%) 

• having limited access to required transport (26%) 

The majority of Ukrainian visa holders are women. Of all adults, 45% live with dependent children and around half (49%) of these reported that childcare responsibilities limited their ability to take up work. Of those, 78% reported they could only work part-time and 12% said they were unable to work at all.

Health and healthcare access 

The majority of adults answered questions about their health positively. Three-quarters (74%) reported their physical health as "good or very good", and 67% marked their mental health as "good or very good".

Most respondents (92%) were registered with a general practitioner (GP) in the UK, and around 7 in 10 (71%) found the registration process "easy or very easy". Around two-thirds (64%) have used GP services compared with around one-third (36%) who have not. Most of these respondents (76%) had not used GP services because they did not need it. 

Most adults have not experienced any difficulties in accessing healthcare, including a GP or accident and emergency (A&E) (65%), or prescription medication (88%) in the UK. Among those who had experienced difficulties accessing healthcare (35%), over a third (38%) were waiting for an appointment. Among those who had experienced difficulties accessing prescription medication (12%), around one-fifth (18%) reported that language barriers had prevented access.

Ukraine Family Scheme 

The Ukraine Family Scheme allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK, if they were originally only given permission to stay for six months. 

Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme 

The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor (in Wales and Scotland this includes those sponsored directly by the Welsh Government or Scottish Government).

Survey estimates 

The data were collected between 27 February to 13 March 2023. All adults (aged 18 years and over) who had been granted a visa under the Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine), who arrived in the UK before 15 June 2022, who participated in the UK Humanitarian Response Insight Survey (UKHRIS) in April 2022 or in June 2022, who agreed to be recontacted and who provided a valid email address were asked to take part in this survey. Over 10,500 adults were invited to take part. In many cases, groups of applicants (for example, families) had used a single email address on multiple visa applications. Only one invitation was sent to each email address during the April and June 2022 UKHRIS. This means that, where applications shared an email address, only one individual would be able to respond to the survey. This introduces bias in the results. 

This survey was conducted via the survey programme Smart Survey. Individuals were sent an email with a unique access code inviting them to complete the survey online, and all answers were self-reported. The survey was available in English and Ukrainian. For those who required support to complete the survey online, or needed translation to a different language, telephone interviewers and translators were available. 

The achieved sample consisted of 3,510 respondents, with an overall response rate of 33%. Approximately 2.9% of respondents reported having help to complete the survey. 

Percentages in this bulletin are based on weighted counts that are applied to be broadly representative of the population of Ukraine Humanitarian Scheme visa holders who arrived in the UK prior to 15 June 2022. They are adjusted to address age, sex, and visa scheme bias in response. As with all surveys, these estimates have an associated margin of error. The analysis excluded all "Prefer not to say" and "Don't know" responses, with the exception of the question "Do you intend to return to the UK to live?", where "Don't know" responses were kept. 

The statistics presented in this bulletin are Experimental Statistics and contain uncertainty; therefore, care needs to be taken when interpreting them.

The main strengths of the Humanitarian Outcomes Survey include: 

• the timely production of data and statistics that can respond quickly to changes, aiding local and national planning 

• quality assurance procedures that are undertaken throughout the analysis stages to minimise the risk of error 

• confidence intervals that are available in the accompanying datasets as an assessment of uncertainty 

• responses that have been weighted by age, sex, and scheme to mitigate bias and to allow results to be broadly representative of visa holders who had entered the UK by 15 June 2022 under the Ukraine Humanitarian Schemes 

The main limitations of the Humanitarian Outcomes Survey include: 

• the survey and supporting material were available in English and Ukrainian only, although respondents could request to complete the survey in another language over the telephone 

• the survey was online, but respondents could request to complete it over the telephone 

• the survey was designed in a simple way to encourage response, meaning that not all areas of interest could be covered in depth 

• the survey sample only includes visa holders who had entered the UK by 15 June 2022, so results are not representative of the visa holders that have entered the UK after that date 

• the survey will include any bias from the initial sample in the April and June 2022 UK Humanitarian Response Insight Survey (UKHRIS), and subsequent follow-up surveys, which may introduce further bias through recontact and non-response, for example those no longer in the UK are less likely to respond

The survey was compiled rapidly to help inform the UK's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to aid local and national emergency response planning. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) conducted this survey in collaboration with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).