Why do people migrate?

Across the whole period, historians explain migration using push and pull factors. Learning to spot them is a key exam skill.

• Push factors — reasons people leave a place: persecution, war, famine and poverty.
• Pull factors — reasons people are drawn to Britain: jobs, safety, and links through trade or empire.

Continuity and change: Britain has always received migrants (continuity), but who came, why, and how many changed over time (change). Migrants have shaped Britain's language, food, business, cities and culture throughout.

The Normans: a new ruling elite

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror and his followers arrived from Normandy in northern France — a small but powerful ruling elite.

• They took over the land, giving it to Norman lords, and built castles to control the country.
• Norman French became the language of the ruling class, reshaping English over time.
• They reorganised the Church, appointing Norman bishops and building great cathedrals.

Impact: the Normans were few in number but changed England's land, language, buildings and Church for centuries — a huge impact from a small group of migrants.

Jewish communities and European traders

Jewish communities came to England after the Norman Conquest. They were important in money-lending and finance at a time when the Church forbade Christians from lending money at interest.

• They faced growing persecution and were finally expelled from England by Edward I in 1290 (the Edict of Expulsion). They were not readmitted until the 1650s.
• Flemish weavers (from Flanders) and other European craftsmen came for the cloth trade.
• Hanseatic League merchants — from German cities — traded from the "Steelyard" in London.

Misconception alert: medieval England was not "closed off". Traders, craftsmen and financiers came from across Europe — but minorities like the Jewish community could face terrible persecution.

Expulsion in 1290

The Huguenots: skilled refugees

The Huguenots were French Protestants who fled Catholic persecution in France. Large numbers came especially after 1685, when the king revoked the Edict of Nantes (which had protected their religion).

• Many were highly skilled — in silk-weaving (settling in Spitalfields in London), watchmaking and other crafts.
• They generally settled and integrated, and their skills strengthened British industry.

Readmission and growing trade

The early modern period saw both religious change and the growth of Britain's trade and empire:

• Jewish people were re-admitted to England in the 1650s — from 1656, under Oliver Cromwell — over 350 years after the 1290 expulsion.
• Growing trade and empire brought some people of African and Asian origin to Britain (for example servants and sailors).

Sensitivity note: Britain's expanding empire and trade — including its involvement in the slave trade — meant some people came unfreely or with little choice. Migration stories were not all about opportunity.

Name the year

Irish and Jewish migration

Industrial Britain, growing fast and hungry for labour, drew in large numbers of migrants — especially two big groups:

• Irish migration — huge numbers came, especially after the Irish Potato Famine (1845–52). They worked as "navvies" building railways and canals, and in factories and docks. Many were very poor and faced prejudice.
• Jewish migration from the Russian Empire and Eastern Europe — many fled pogroms (violent persecution), especially in the 1880s–1900s, and settled in London's East End.

Push and pull: famine and persecution pushed people out; jobs in Britain's booming industry pulled them in. Both groups faced hardship and prejudice but became a lasting part of British life.

Why did so many Irish people come?

The Empire Windrush

After the Second World War, Britain faced serious labour shortages and recruited workers from the Commonwealth. On 22 June 1948, the ship HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury, bringing migrants from the Caribbean.

• The British Nationality Act 1948 gave Commonwealth citizens the right to live and work in the UK.
• The Windrush is seen as the symbolic start of large-scale post-war Caribbean migration (the "Windrush generation").

Misconception alert: the Windrush was a symbolic beginning of mass Caribbean migration, not the first-ever migrants — people had been coming to Britain for a thousand years.

Name the year

Who were they?

Tap a migrant group or event on the left, then tap its description on the right.

South Asian migration and 1972

Post-war migration continued from across the Commonwealth:

• Migration from South Asia — India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh — grew in the 1950s–70s, into textile mills, transport and factories, especially in the industrial North and Midlands.
• In 1972, Ugandan Asians expelled by the dictator Idi Amin came to Britain — many held British passports.

Impact: these communities transformed British food, business, religion and culture — from corner shops to curry houses to new places of worship.

Tightening laws and EU migration

As migration grew, governments passed laws both to restrict entry and to fight discrimination:

• Restricting entry: the Commonwealth Immigrants Acts (1962 and 1968) and the Immigration Act 1971 made it harder to come to Britain.
• Fighting discrimination: the Race Relations Acts (1965, 1968, 1976) made racial discrimination illegal.
• EU migration: in 2004, eight Eastern European countries (including Poland) joined the EU (the "A8"), leading to significant migration in the 2000s.

Change over time: laws grew tighter on who could enter, while other laws worked to make Britain fairer for the migrants who had already settled.

Understanding the Windrush

The impact of migration

Migrants have faced both opportunity and prejudice, but their impact on Britain has been enormous and lasting:

• Food and culture — from Huguenot silk to Caribbean and South Asian food, music, festivals and religion.
• Economy — filling labour shortages, building railways, running businesses and public services (like the NHS).
• Cities — reshaping London and other cities into diverse, multicultural places.

The big picture: Britain has always been shaped by migration. The origins and scale changed over time, but the story of newcomers making a home — and changing the country — runs right through the whole period.

Timeline: c1000 → c2010

Put the events in order

Tap the events in the correct time order, from earliest to latest.

Factors shaping migration

OCR wants you to explain why migration happened — and why attitudes changed or stayed the same — across the whole period. Look for these recurring factors:

• Religion & persecution — Jewish communities, Huguenots and Eastern European Jews all fled religious or ethnic persecution.
• War, famine & crisis — the Irish Famine, WWII and the expulsion of Ugandan Asians all triggered migration.
• Economy & work — industry and post-war labour shortages pulled migrants in.
• Government & empire — laws, the Commonwealth and EU membership opened or closed the door.

Continuity vs change: the strongest answers argue that migration is a continuity (Britain always received newcomers) while the origins, scale and laws changed over time.

The biggest theme

Using sources on migration

You will handle sources — newspaper reports, cartoons, photographs, posters — about migrants and attitudes to them. Two habits win marks:

• Ask who made it and why (provenance). A hostile newspaper cartoon may exaggerate to stir up prejudice; a community photograph may celebrate belonging. The purpose shapes the message.
• Use your own knowledge to judge it. Support or challenge a source with facts you know about the group and period.

Interpretations differ: historians disagree about how welcoming Britain really was, and about how much impact different groups had. Being aware that interpretations vary is exactly what the exam rewards.

Name the group

The essentials to remember

You've covered the whole OCR Migration to Britain thematic study. Press Finish to see your score.