Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of increasing the cost of (a) the immigration health surcharge and (b) student visas on (i) the international student target within the International Education Strategy.

The department has been successful in delivering our International Education Strategy ambition of hosting at least 600,000 students per year by 2030 for the last two years, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be an attractive destination for international students.

The department is increasing fees across a range of immigration routes, including for people coming here to live, work and study, at a time of record high migration numbers. It is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer.

The government’s visa fees are competitive globally and there is little evidence that fee increases to date have significantly affected demand on work, study and tourism routes.