The answer is both yes and no. Your credit report does not show whether an application is approved or declined, so being rejected for credit has no direct effect on your credit score and lenders won’t be able to see this.
However, when you apply for credit, a ‘hard’ search is added to your credit report (otherwise known as a ‘credit application search’). This indicates that you have applied to take on new debt, but that debt may not yet appear as an account on your credit report. That potential new debt represents possible risk, as a lender might assume you can’t afford to take on any more.
What’s more, if a lender sees that you have made a lot of credit applications in a short space of time, they are likely to turn your application down. This is because multiple applications can make it look like you rely on credit to get by, and that you might struggle to pay them back.