Oral Answers to Questions

Laurence Robertson Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, who I know has considerable expertise in this area. As the Prime Minister said last week, we are looking at those proposals and will come back on that.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

11. How many visas were issued to overseas students to study in the UK in the last year for which figures are available.

[The Minister for Immigration (James Brokenshire)]

Some 196,000 study visas were issued, excluding dependants, in the year ending September 2015, and we continue to welcome the brightest and best to study at our world leading institutions.

[Mr Robertson]

Given that students who come to this country for more than a year are officially classed as immigration, and given the concern about levels of immigration into this country, would it be sensible to give a separate classification to students who come here to study? As we have already heard, those students bring a lot of money to the country, and they extend British influence abroad.

[James Brokenshire]

As I have already indicated, the Office for National Statistics includes international students in its net migration calculations, and like other migrants, international students who stay for longer than 12 months have an impact on communities, infrastructure and services while they are here. I underline that having those numbers there does not bear on our policy.