Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on the number of student visas issued to international students studying on UK higher education courses who lack proficiency in English.

Students who wish to study a higher education course in the UK need to reach a minimum standard of proficiency in English, currently set at Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Level B2 in each of the four components (speaking, listening, reading and writing), with some exemptions as set out in paragraphs 127-129 at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/540421/T4_Migrant_Guidance_July_2016.pdf

We will shortly be consulting on proposed changes to the non-EU work and study migration routes to see what more we can do to strengthen the system to support the best institutions – and those that stick to the rules – to attract the best talent.

Interested parties, including businesses and members of the education sector, will have the opportunity to engage with this consultation to help us get these reforms right.