Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a study of the impact of the dependency of universities on international students on the level of fees paid by such students.

The government remains committed to a United Kingdom that is outward looking and welcomes international students who make a positive contribution to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of English HE providers. As such, it is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of the sector. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the impact of the sector’s changing financial landscape. In its most recent report on the financial health of the HE sector (published November 2024), the OfS assessed the risks to provider financial sustainability and overreliance on recruitment of students from particular countries was noted as a particular concern. The report models the impacts of various scenarios on provider finances, including in relation to levels of international student recruitment.

The OfS emphasised that the HE sector should be cautious of depending too much on international student fee income in their recruitment forecasts and urged institutions to have strong contingency plans to mitigate the financial risks of over-recruiting from a single country.

All providers must continue to adapt to uncertainties and financial risks. As autonomous bodies independent of government, it is for providers to decide on effective business models and to how to manage their finances. The department will continue to work closely with the OfS in order to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the sector.