Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the economic case for the International Student Levy.

The government has consulted on the proposed design and delivery of the international student levy and published its response on 13 July 2026. An impact analysis for the levy was published at the 2025 Autumn Budget and an updated analysis will be published shortly.

The funding raised through the levy on providers will be fully reinvested in England’s higher education and skills system. It will fund maintenance grants for students, support progression through the post-16 system and support wider skills.

We have also announced increases to tuition fee caps in line with forecast inflation. Over the next 5 years, raising tuition fees by inflation could generate around £6 billion for higher education providers. This significantly exceeds the projected levy cost to providers of less than £1 billion over the same period. Compounding annual increases will provide the sector with growing resources to support high-quality education and innovation.