Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of students who have not been eligible for student finance because their Indefinite Leave to Remain applications have been delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

It is not possible to estimate the number of students who were not eligible for student finance on the first day of the first academic year of their course because their Indefinite Leave to Remain application was delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The requirement for a student to hold settled status on the first day of the first academic year of their course is a condition that is defined in the Education (Student Support) Regulations. Where certain events occur after the first day of the first academic year of the course (for example, the student is recognised as a refugee) the student may qualify for student support for that year and any subsequent years depending on when the event occurred. Indefinite leave to remain is not, by itself, an event. Most students acquiring indefinite leave to remain part way through a course (for reasons other than Permanent Residence, under the EUSS or as a victim of domestic violence) will not become eligible for full support as a settled person under the Student Support Regulations.

In assessing eligibility for student finance, the Student Loans Company will rely on information from the Home Office on all immigration matters, including in relation to the grant of settlement.