Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) number and (b) proportion of staff in her Department are eligible to receive Continuity of Education Allowance.

Under the long-standing arrangements for continuity of education, 237 officers received Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) in academic year 2024-25. This figure represents approximately 11 per cent of officers posted overseas. Eligibility for CEA is based on a range of factors that vary over time, so the Department does not hold a centrally maintained figure for the total number of overseas staff who may be eligible for CEA at any given point.