Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of granting biometric deferrals for students from Gaza who have been awarded UK scholarships but are unable to access biometric facilities.

The Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas, with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for all Chevening Scholars from Gaza.

We are in the process of doing the same for a group of students who have been awarded fully funded scholarships covering course fees and living costs at UK universities so they can start their studies in Autumn 2025.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is doing everything it can to support their safe exit and onward travel to the UK, while accepting that the situation on the ground in Gaza makes this extremely challenging.