Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is taking steps with Ministers in the (a) Department for Education and (b) Home Office to help facilitate female Afghan medical students to study in the UK.

The UK is committed to supporting the continuation of vital health services in Afghanistan. Our focus is on the delivery of essential primary health care and maternal and child health, specifically targeted at women and children.

In our engagement with the Taliban, we continue to advocate for the importance of women and girls receiving the education they need so that Afghanistan has the trained female medical staff that are required to deliver vital health services.

Any Afghan medical students wishing to study in the UK would need to apply to individual medical schools and meet their entry requirements, as well as meeting any UK immigration requirements.