Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent immigration policy changes on the higher education sector.

The government has been clear that we welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. International students come from all over the world and benefit UK higher education (HE) and our society, boosting our economy by more than £21 billion a year.

The government expects the UK’s HE sector to remain highly attractive. We have four UK universities in the world’s top 10 and 17 in the top 100, alongside a wide array of other high-quality institutions.

The system must, however, ensure that international students make a positive contribution to the communities in which they study. We will not permit anyone who seeks to exploit the system.

The Immigration White Paper, published in May, sets out a balanced approach which helps the government achieve our manifesto commitment of reducing net migration while maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness.