Refusal rates are the one number nobody wants to publish in a readable form, so most applicants go in blind. The European Commission does publish them, buried in a spreadsheet. This tool puts the current published figures in front of you, by nationality, against the global average — and shows two real examples of how far apart two consulates in the same city can be.

What the consulate spread actually shows

The striking finding in this dataset is not the country averages. It is how far apart two consulates in the same city can be. In Accra, Germany refused 33.5% of short-stay applications in 2025 while the Czech Republic refused 71.9%. In Dakar, Germany refused 25.7% and Portugal 82.1%. These are the same applicant pool, the same city, the same Visa Code — and a difference of more than fifty percentage points in the answer.

That spread is worth understanding even though you usually cannot shop between consulates. Schengen rules send your application to the state of your main destination, or to your point of first entry where no single destination dominates. What the spread tells you is that decisions are made by national administrations with their own risk appetites, evidence expectations and staffing, and that a refusal often says as much about which desk received your file as it does about your file.

Short-stay visas, and why that matters for students

Every figure here is for uniform short-stay (type C) Schengen visas — visits of up to 90 days. If you are moving to Europe for a full degree you will be applying for a national long-stay D visa, decided by that member state under its own rules, and those decisions are not in this dataset. No public dataset breaks long-stay student refusals down by consulate. The short-stay numbers remain the closest available proxy for how a given consulate treats applicants from your country, and they are real, published, and auditable.

The United States and the United Kingdom

Neither government publishes a consulate-level equivalent, so this page does not invent one. The U.S. Department of State publishes an adjusted refusal rate by nationality each fiscal year, but it covers B visitor visas only — there is no published F-1 student refusal rate by nationality. The Home Office publishes UK entry clearance applications, grants and refusals by nationality and route, including the Student route, in its quarterly immigration statistics.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest Schengen visa refusal rate?

Of the nationalities tracked here, Burundi is highest at 53.4% in 2025, up sharply from 40.0% in 2024. Senegal follows at 51.9%, also up. Nigeria and Ghana sit close together at 47.9% and 46.5%.

Can I choose which Schengen consulate decides my application?

Usually not. The Visa Code requires you to apply to the member state of your main destination, judged by length of stay or purpose. Where no single state is the main destination, you apply to the state of first entry. A choice only genuinely arises when your itinerary is evenly split, and inventing an itinerary to reach a softer consulate is itself grounds for refusal.

Are these student visa refusal rates?

No. These are short-stay type C visas for visits of up to 90 days. Degree students apply for national long-stay D visas, which are not covered by this dataset. The figures are still the best public indicator of how strictly a given consulate treats applicants from your country.

Why does this tool only cover 9 countries?

Because those are the figures the European Commission’s own summary named specifically for 2025 at the time this was checked. Rather than average or estimate a rate for a country the Commission did not call out, this tool leaves it off — the full spreadsheet covers more countries and is linked below if yours is missing.

How current is this data?

Checked directly against the European Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs release on 17 September 2026, covering full-year 2025 figures with 2024 shown for comparison where the Commission published it. The Commission updates this annually.

Read the full breakdown for your nationality

• Nigeria — 47.9%
• Ghana — 46.5%
• Senegal — 51.9%, up from 46.8%
• Burundi — 53.4%, the highest tracked
• DR Congo — 40.1%, up from 29.9%
• Ethiopia — 34.0%, down from 36.1%
• Algeria — 31.0%, down from 35.0%
• Cape Verde — 21.4%, up from 13.4%
• Russia — 6.4%, the lowest tracked

Next steps

Knowing the rate is one thing; knowing where your own application is weak is another. Work through our refusal risk self-assessment, confirm you can meet the money test with the proof-of-funds calculator, and read the country guides in our visa guides hub. For what a refusal on these grounds actually means and how to reapply, see our full guide to student visa refusal reasons and the 17 Schengen refusal codes decoded. For a shareable summary of the headline findings — built for citing, not just browsing — see State of Visa Refusals 2026.