Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on student society statements praising Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

As the Education Secretary made clear in her statement to Parliament on 2 March, universities should be places of open discussion and dialogue, where views should be challenged and questioned. But there is no place for hate speech or intimidation on campus.

That is why on 8 March, the Government announced stronger protections for university students and staff against extremism, harassment and intimidation on campus.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to open new legal routes for Iranian nationals affected by the regional conflict.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has not introduced a bespoke visa route in response to the conflict. Existing visa routes remain available and Iranian nationals who wish to come to the UK can apply to do so via these routes.

Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules.  We advise people to consider the most appropriate visa route for their own circumstances.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the conflict with Iran on the number of asylum applications from Iranian nationals; and what steps she is taking to manage the anticipated change.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

There is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.

If someone is in the UK and circumstances in their home country change, such that it is no longer safe for them to return home, they can claim asylum. The Home Office constantly monitors global events and prepares for a range of scenarios to ensure the asylum system can respond effectively.

We are closely monitoring the fast-moving situation in Iran and we continue to register, interview and decide protection claims from Iranian nationals in the UK as normal. All asylum and human rights claims will be carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.

We have already taken steps to streamline the asylum process and increase our efficiency. As per normal operational practice we can deploy decision makers flexibly to support wider casework demands across Asylum & Human Rights Operations and the wider Asylum Group within the Home Office. Any additional asylum claims will be processed in the usual way and each individual assessment will be made against the background of relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant Country Policy and Information Note. We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues such as challenges in the Middle East. The CPIN for Iran is available on GOV.UK at: Iran: country policy and information notes - GOV.UK. We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they have a well-founded fear or persecution or are at risk of serious harm.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what number of international students by university and by nationality who dropped out of university in the academic year 2024/2025.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Office for Students (OfS) publishes statistics across different aspects of the student lifecycle by higher education providers to help inform regulatory processes. The Student Outcomes Data Dashboard is accessible here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/student-outcomes-data-dashboard/data-dashboard/. The dashboard holds the following indicators:

• Continuation: the percentage of first degree entrants who continue their studies after 12 months for full-time students, or 24 months for part-time students.
• Completion: the percentage of first degree entrants who completed their course within 4 years 15 days for full-time students, and within 6 years 15 days for part-time students.

The OfS publish breakdowns for non-UK domiciled students for English OfS registered providers. The latest data available are for 2022/23 entrants for continuation rates and 2019/20 entrants for completion rates. The student outcomes dashboard is updated annually and was last released in August 2025. The data can be accessed here:

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/student-outcomes-data-dashboard/get-the-data/.

Data on student nationality as opposed to domicile, which is the permanent address of the student immediately prior to study, is not published by the OfS and is not readily available.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for the number of (a) enforced and (b) voluntary asylum-related removals in 2025 for all nationalities.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ’Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on enforced and voluntary asylum-related returns in 2025 can be found in Ret_05 with a further breakdown by top 10 nationalities in Ret_04 of the ‘Returns summary tables’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of potential foreign state ideological influence operating through student networks affiliated to UK universities.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom within the law, but those freedoms do not extend to behaviour that constitutes extremist intimidation, harassment and incitement to hatred.

The National Security Act 2023 introduced offences of foreign interference which target malign activity carried out for, on behalf of, or intended to benefit, a foreign power.

In addition, the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, applies to UK universities and students. Any person conducting political influence activity at the direction of any foreign country, or being directed by the Russian or Iranian states to conduct activity in the UK, must register.

We are committed to ensuring our universities remain free from interference. We announced a new Academic Interference Reporting Route and issued guidance at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protecting-uk-higher-education-from-foreign-interference to help students and staff identify and escalate issues.

We will be investing £3 million to bolster support and advice on foreign interference for the sector.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the number of international students by university and by nationality who dropped out of university in the academic year 2024/2025.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not currently publish data on the number of student visas issued for individuals attending specific universities, nor does it provide information regarding students who fail to complete their course.

Information on Home Office Entry Clearance Student visas can be found in the Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has conducted a risk assessment of fully online English language testing for migrants seeking to come to the UK.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office has carefully considered the risks of a remote delivery model as part of the procurement to replace current Secure English Language Testing arrangements.

The key risks centre on maintaining the integrity and security of the immigration system, including identity assurance, protection against impersonation, and confidence in the reliability of test results. The Home Office has engaged the market to understand what capability is available to maintain high standards of security and integrity and has developed a robust security schedule and solution requirements to ensure this remains at the heart of the digital by default solution.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted (a) an evaluation and (b) risk report on the potential of cheating within fully remote English language testing for migrants.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office has carefully considered and evaluated the risks of a remote delivery model as part of the procurement to replace current Secure English Language Testing arrangements. This evaluation has informed the development of the Department's security requirements and procurement approach.

Any delivery model must meet appropriate integrity requirements and principles including data security, cyber security, accessibility, fraud risk, and prevention to ensure compliance with Home Office Policy and ensure that the service delivers the fundamental principles underpinning our Immigration policies and our visa journey. This compliance will be assessed throughout the tender process to ensure the strictest compliance with Home Office security parameters.

The ongoing Home Office English Language Test procurement is explicitly designed to test bidders' ability to meet these standards, and the Department will adopt only those solutions that demonstrably maintain the high level of assurance required.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the security of fully remote English language testing in the immigration system.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Before any decision can be made to formally include remote testing as part of the Home Office English Language Testing service, the Home Office will ensure a full Cyber Security Assessment including a Threat Assessment is conducted to ensure compliance with Home Office Policy.

In addition, any delivery model must meet appropriate integrity requirements and principles including data security, cyber security, accessibility, fraud risk and prevention to ensure compliance with Home Office Policy and ensure that the service delivers the fundamental principles underpinning our Immigration policies and our visa journey. This compliance will be assessed throughout the tender process to ensure the strictest compliance with Home Office security parameters.