The Home Office published the UK Border Arrivals Survey for the year ending March 2026 on 7 August 2026, covering arrivals' satisfaction, confidence in border security, Border Force officers and digital border services.
The Home Office commissioned Ipsos UK to run the UK Border Arrivals Survey (BAS). The report for the year ending March 2026 is based on face-to-face interviews at 11 ports of entry in England and Scotland. The source gives two interview totals: the summary page says 9,632 and Section 2.1 says 9,636. The completed responses listed in Annex A1.2 add up to 9,636, counting the 2,479 recorded for Q3 2025.
Satisfaction. Section 3.1 gives overall satisfaction with the border crossing as 90% in quarter 2 2025, 89% in July to September, 89% in October to December and 92% in January to March 2026. The report labels quarter 2 2025 "March to June" in Section 3.1, while its executive summary refers to April to June 2025. It says speed and efficiency of the process were the main drivers of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Confidence. Confidence that the UK border is secure fell from 82% in quarter 2 2025 to 75% in January to March 2026. The report says respondents who lacked confidence mostly cited external influences, such as threats to the UK, rather than their experience at the border. Those who were confident mostly cited direct experience, such as the quality and number of checks and the professionalism of Border Force officers.
Border Force officers. The executive summary says respondents perceived Border Force officers as polite (69%) and efficient (58%). Section 3.3 reports, among those who used a passport control point, 71% observing polite or considerate behaviour and 57% observing fast and efficient checks in March 2026. Across the year, 3% of respondents who used a passport control point reported observing negative behaviours.
Digital services. The executive summary gives satisfaction with the border crossing of 90% among eGate users, 92% among eVisa users and 90% among electronic travel authorisation (ETA) users. In January to March 2026, 88% of ETA users and 86% of eVisa users rated using their digital permission at the border as "excellent". Awareness of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) among British nationals rose from 47% in quarter 2 2025 to 78% in quarter 1 2026.
Limits. Participation was voluntary, and interviewers logged 18,246 refusals. The 11 ports were not chosen through a purely statistical sampling framework. The report says comparisons with earlier International Passenger Survey data should be treated with caution because of differences in design and wording.
Sources
- UK Border Arrivals Survey: year ending March 2026, Home Office, 7 August 2026