ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Polish migrants in the UK who had been present in the country for generations but never in such large numbers as in the twenty-first century. The UK attracted a very broad spectrum of Poles, from non-graduates doing simple jobs to medical doctors and experts in finance. This study, based on qualitative interviews with 21 respondents residing in the UK, demonstrated that factors which they took into consideration in their migration decisions were dependent especially on their level of education and life stage. Non-graduates particularly responded to economic push factors in Poland, while the presence of social networks was the main pull factor determining their choice of destination. Graduates responded in particular to pull factors, which were not only economic but also cultural. Young singles focused on the cultural and life opportunities which Britain had to offer, whereas parents particularly underlined the value of an English-language education.
