Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of international students on student visas are undertaking postgraduate taught courses that can be completed in less than 12 months, and whether that proportion has increased following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on the proportion of student visas for postgraduate taught courses or how long people were resident in the UK on student visas.
The Home Office publishes data on sponsored study visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of student visas are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023.
The Home Office also 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 for how long they continue to hold leave. It does not contain information on how long people were resident in the UK or the level of qualification for which they were studying. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many international students on student visas who complete postgraduate taught courses and leave the UK within 12 months do not subsequently return to the UK on that visa.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on the proportion of student visas for postgraduate taught courses or how long people were resident in the UK on student visas.
The Home Office publishes data on sponsored study visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of student visas are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023.
The Home Office also 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 for how long they continue to hold leave. It does not contain information on how long people were resident in the UK or the level of qualification for which they were studying. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why all international students on postgraduate taught courses are counted as migrants, even though a proportion of those students leave the UK after less than a year.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Long-term international migration estimates are produced by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). Any decision around the methodology used to estimate net migration would be for the ONS. They use the “UN-recommended definition of a long-term international migrant”, a person who moves to another country other than their own for at least a year (12 months). Students who leave the UK within one year of their arrival are not considered to be long-term migrants. In their ‘Reason for international migration, international students update’ they said:
“An international student is currently defined as someone who arrives in the UK to study and remains for a period of 12 months or more. In line with the current United Nations (UN) definition of a long-term migrant, international students are included in our estimates of long-term immigration.”
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that applicants have English language skills at the level of proficiency required for courses when higher education providers have discretion to assess English language ability other than by reference to the result of a Secure English Language Test.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
An application for entry clearance to the UK or permission to stay as a student must show the student meets the English language requirement as specified in Appendix English Language of the Immigration Rules.
There is a degree of flexibility for sponsors that are Higher Education Providers (HEP) with a track record of compliance to self-assess the English proficiency of their students studying at degree level or above. The HEP choose their own method to assess the English ability of such students. Where they do so, they must state on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) the method which they have used, including, where relevant, the applicant’s English language test scores in all four components (reading, writing, speaking and listening).
Additional discretion is available to such sponsors via their ability to waive the English language requirement if the student is studying at degree level and the sponsor considers the student to be gifted. This must only be done if English language proficiency is not integral to the course of study and a pre-sessional course would be inappropriate. If a sponsor wants to waive the English language requirement for a gifted student, their academic registrar, or the institution’s equivalent, must approve this waiver. The CAS must state that the student is gifted, as well as including an explanation of why this is the case and the name and contact details of the academic registrar or equivalent.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discretion higher education institutions have to accept evidence of English language ability other than by reference to the result of an approved Secure English Language Test, for the purpose of Student Route visa applications.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
An application for entry clearance to the UK or permission to stay as a student must show the student meets the English language requirement as specified in Appendix English Language of the Immigration Rules.
There is a degree of flexibility for sponsors that are Higher Education Providers (HEP) with a track record of compliance to self-assess the English proficiency of their students studying at degree level or above. The HEP choose their own method to assess the English ability of such students. Where they do so, they must state on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) the method which they have used, including, where relevant, the applicant’s English language test scores in all four components (reading, writing, speaking and listening).
Additional discretion is available to such sponsors via their ability to waive the English language requirement if the student is studying at degree level and the sponsor considers the student to be gifted. This must only be done if English language proficiency is not integral to the course of study and a pre-sessional course would be inappropriate. If a sponsor wants to waive the English language requirement for a gifted student, their academic registrar, or the institution’s equivalent, must approve this waiver. The CAS must state that the student is gifted, as well as including an explanation of why this is the case and the name and contact details of the academic registrar or equivalent.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the applicants for the Student Route visa in the last three years have taken a Secure English Language Test to prove that their English language skills are at the level required for courses at National Qualifications Framework level 6 or above; and how many applicants did so with (1) IELTS SELT Consortium, (2) LanguageCert, (3) Pearson, (4) Trinity College London, and (5) PSI Services (UK) Ltd.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on the number of applicants for the Student Route visa who have used a Secure English Language Test to evidence their English language skills.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the applicants from non-English speaking countries for the Student Route visa in the last three years have taken a Secure English Language Test to prove that their English language skills are at the level required for higher education courses considered below degree level; and how many applicants did so with (1) IELTS SELT Consortium, (2) LanguageCert, (3) Pearson, (4) Trinity College London, and (5) PSI Services (UK) Ltd.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on the number of applicants for the Student Route visa who have used a Secure English Language Test to evidence their English language skills.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of international student visas are being processed within the service standard for decision-making.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Home Office Migration Statistics do not publish service standard information by nationality of applicant. Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data and can be found at: Visas and Citizenship data: Q2 2022. (Annex A)
Information on our current processing times can be found on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how long is the current average international student visa processing time by nationality of applicant.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Home Office Migration Statistics do not publish service standard information by nationality of applicant. Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data and can be found at: Visas and Citizenship data: Q2 2022. (Annex A)
Information on our current processing times can be found on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what their planned allocation of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) will be for (1) the next year they can be sought, and (2) each of the next five years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office continues to welcome international students and we place no limit on their numbers.
In February 2021, the UK Government published an update to the International Education Strategy, recommitting to the ambitions to sustainably increase international students in the UK to 600,000 per year by 2030.
New sponsors can apply for an allocation of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) of up to 50 percent of their current student body. Subsequent annual requests can be made for up to a 50 percent increase on a CAS allocation for sponsors who have assigned more than 50 CAS in the previous year.
There is no upper limit on the number of CAS which can be allocated across the system, or the number of providers able to gain a sponsor licence. Sponsors are able to submit additional in-year requests on an exceptional basis and there are no limits on the total number of CAS to be allocated in any given year. These requirements are set out in the published Student Sponsor guidance.
In the case of R (on the application of New London College Limited) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) the Supreme Court found the general principle of mandatory requirements for sponsors and actions they must take to maintain a licence were ruled to be lawful and derived from the authority of the Immigration Act 1971, which would include requirements on the numbers of CAS allocated to sponsors.
Data on CAS allocations for specific institutions is not currently published. However, we do produce data at detailed sponsorship dataset which breaks down the numbers of CAS used by types of educational institution.