Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact on university research and innovation of the reduction in applications from overseas postgraduate students.

We are committed to ensuring the UK and our world-leading universities remain competitive and attractive to the brightest and the best and that UK students have chances to excel at postgraduate study.

Postgraduate courses in the UK attract healthy levels of interest from domestic and overseas graduates.

We will monitor this closely to ensure the UK continues to attract and retain the best research talent.