Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of (1) the Resource Accounting and Budgeting charge, and (2) the estimated cost to Government of their support for the student finance system, based on future loan write-offs and interest subsidies, (a) in net present-value terms, and (b) as a proportion of the initial loan outlay.

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

In the 2022/23 financial year, the Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge, which is the government subsidy on student loans, was £5.5 billion, or 27% of the £20.0 billion of loans issued that financial year.

Of student loans issued in 2023/24, the government is expected to subsidise about £5.6 billion, or:

• 28% of full-time Plan 2 loans,
• 23% of part-time Plan 2 loans,
• 48% of Plan 2 Advanced Learner Loans,
• 27% of full-time Plan 5 loans,
• 19% of part-time Plan 5 loans,
• 37% of Plan 5 Advanced Learner Loans, and
• 0% of Master’s loans

These forecasts are subject to change. The next statistical publication on student finance forecasts, which will contain the final RAB figures for the 2023/24 financial year, will be available at the end of June 2024.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review their statistical methods regarding the inclusion of international students on postgraduate taught courses in net migration figures.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Right Hon. the Lord Johnson of Marylebone

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

19 April 2024

Dear Lord Johnson,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what plans there are to review the statistical methods regarding the inclusion of international students on postgraduate taught courses in net migration figures (HL3762).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing long-term international migration statistics. The most recent edition is for year-ending (YE) June 2023[1].

Net international migration accounts for a significant part of population change. Therefore, it is important that long-term international migration estimates account for those joining or leaving the UK population for all reasons, including international students (on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses). This ensures that the size of the population can be measured and the impact of migration on the economy and service requirements can be understood.

However, I recognise that there is also a user need for estimates of specific groups such as international students, as well as the need to understand the contribution of students to net international migration. Therefore, the latest long-term international migration estimates for YE June 2023 include breakdowns by reason for migration.

Alongside the latest estimates, the ONS also published an article named Reason for international migration: international students update: November 2023[2]. This presents further analysis of net migration of non-EU international students up to the YE June 2023 along with cohort analysis that provides insight on the changing behaviours of international students. This includes how long they spend studying in the UK before emigrating or, for example, transitioning onto work visas.

The ONS are continuing to develop their research in this area to provide more granular estimates, further insights on migration patterns of international students and identify priority areas for further research based on user priorities. Afurther update on this work will be published in May 2024, including estimates of international student migration for the YE December 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2023

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/reasonforinternationalmigrationinternationalstudentsupdate/november2023

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.

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.

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.”

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