Does a high ranking mean an employer will sponsor me?

No. The ranking counts the people an employer sponsored in past years. Whether a job can be sponsored depends on its occupation code and salary, so check the sponsorship likelihood on each job before you apply.

What is a certificate of sponsorship?

A certificate of sponsorship is a reference number a licensed sponsor gives each worker it hires on a work visa. The worker needs it to apply for the visa, so the number of certificates shows how many people an employer sponsored.

Why is an employer missing from the ranking?

The ranking leaves out recruitment agencies and sponsors that are no longer on the register. It ranks each register entry on its own, so an employer with more than one licence appears once for each licence. A sponsor that changed its name shows only the years since the change.

Top visa sponsors in Southampton, 2025: Temporary (Tier 5)

Q: Which employers in Southampton sponsor the most visas?

In 2025, YMCA Fairthorne Group had the most Temporary (Tier 5) certificates of sponsorship: 22. Next came University of Southampton (11 or more) and NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE (9 or more). These are Home Office figures for each sponsor on the register.

Q: How many employers in Southampton had a Temporary (Tier 5) certificate of sponsorship in 2025?

9 sponsors on today's register had at least one. Many more hold a licence. A licence lets an employer sponsor, but it does not show that the employer has ever done so.

YMCA Fairthorne Group ranks first for 2025, with 22 Temporary (Tier 5) certificates of sponsorship. That year, 9 sponsors in Southampton on today's register had at least one, with 49 certificates in total. All of them are listed below.

#SponsorSectorCoS · 2025Jobs

YMCA Fairthorne Group

Other Service Activities

Other Service Activities229 2

University of Southampton

11+

See the top UK visa sponsors for every sector and city.

Method and attribution

Each figure is the number of certificates of sponsorship a sponsor had in one year for one visa route. The Home Office released them under the Freedom of Information Act, and they are the same figures each sponsor's profile shows.

The 2021 to 2024 figures count certificates assigned. Most 2025 figures count certificates used in a visa application, which is a smaller number: in 2021 to 2024, the number assigned was 6 to 12% higher than the number used. So part of any fall from 2024 to 2025 can come from counting used certificates instead of assigned ones.

Skilled Worker is the main work visa. Transfers (ICT) bring staff to the UK from a part of the same company abroad. Temporary (Tier 5) covers routes such as seasonal, creative and charity work. Separate figures for it start in 2025.

The Home Office hides small numbers. In the table, “<5” means between 1 and 4, and a figure with a plus, such as “12+”, is a minimum, so those sponsors' ranks are approximate.

A town ranking uses the town in each sponsor's address on the register, which can differ from where its staff work. A sponsor registered in more than one sector appears in the ranking for each of them.

Each entry on the register of licensed sponsors is ranked on its own. Recruitment agencies and sponsors no longer on the register are left out. A high rank means an employer sponsored more people than most. Whether it can sponsor you depends on the job.

Frequently asked questions

In 2025, YMCA Fairthorne Group had the most Temporary (Tier 5) certificates of sponsorship: 22. Next came University of Southampton (11 or more) and NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE (9 or more). These are Home Office figures for each sponsor on the register.

How many employers in Southampton had a Temporary (Tier 5) certificate of sponsorship in 2025?

9 sponsors on today's register had at least one. Many more hold a licence. A licence lets an employer sponsor, but it does not show that the employer has ever done so.