Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving people on a spousal dependent visa access to student finance.

Generally, to be eligible for student support, a student must be resident in England and have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course and must have been a resident of the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the 3 years prior to that date.

It is important that the limited public funds available for student support are targeted on those categories of persons with a lawful and substantial residential connection to the UK and who are likely to remain indefinitely. The only exceptions to the requirement to be settled are where an individual has been granted international protection (such as refugee status) or where they fall within certain exceptions within the relevant regulations.

There are no plans to enable persons with limited leave to remain on a family visa, including for spouses, to access student finance prior to achieving settlement.