Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of students in the UK who are on a student visa from Gaza and what support is being provided to them.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of JISC, is responsible for collecting and publishing data about UK higher education (HE). The latest statistics refer to the 2021/22 academic year.

Table 28 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2021/22’ reports the number of non-UK domiciled HE students by country of domicile. This data is accessible at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-28.

In the 2021/22 academic year, there were 245 student enrolments at UK HE providers who were domiciled in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (formerly the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip) prior to their studies.

Universities offer a range of dedicated support to their international students before they arrive in the UK, on arrival and during their studies. This includes both pastoral care and financial support. If a student is experiencing difficulties, they should contact the university to discuss their circumstances.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government between 2018 and 2022 how many British citizens, if any, have reported being in a forced marriage to individuals in the UK who have students visas.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Since April 2019, police forces in England and Wales have been required to provide quarterly data returns to the Home Office on so-called ‘honour’-based abuse offences, including forced marriage. The most recent data show 172 forced marriage related offences recorded in the year ending March 2023.

In addition, the joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) also publishes statistics on forced marriage cases reported to the unit. The most recent statistics show the FMU provided support in 280 cases of forced marriage in 2023.

The Home Office does not hold data on forced marriages relating to individuals with student visas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications were received for transitioning from a student visa to a spousal visa each year from 2018 to 2022, and what percentage of the applicants were male.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey report. The report contains information on the number of people starting a journey each year broken down by immigration route (e.g. study) and how many extend into other categories (e.g. family) at the end of each year, following their initial leave. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.

The Home Office publishes data on grants of extensions of stay in the UK, in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release.

Table Exe_D02 shows the number of grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by current and previous category of leave, available from Immigration system statistics data tables. Data on extensions by previous category is available for main applicants and calendar year 2020 only. This data will be updated for 2021 onwards in future Immigration system statistics publications.

Please note, the published statistics relate to the number of grants, not applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the success rate of applications for transitioning from a student visa to a spousal visa each year from 2018 to 2022.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey report. The report contains information on the number of people starting a journey each year broken down by immigration route (e.g. study) and how many extend into other categories (e.g. family) at the end of each year, following their initial leave. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.

The Home Office publishes data on grants of extensions of stay in the UK, in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release.

Table Exe_D02 shows the number of grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by current and previous category of leave, available from Immigration system statistics data tables. Data on extensions by previous category is available for main applicants and calendar year 2020 only. This data will be updated for 2021 onwards in future Immigration system statistics publications.

Please note, the published statistics relate to the number of grants, not applications.

Found: Bill THE LORD BISHOP OF MANCHESTER BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT LORD RUSSELL OF LIVERPOOL BARONESS