Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on how many (a) students studying at UK universities hold British National (Overseas) visas and (b) such students are from Hong Kong.

The department does not hold data on the number of students studying at UK universities who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) visas, including those from Hong Kong.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on students coming from overseas to study in UK HE providers. However, information on students’ visa status is not collected and those that are studying in the UK and holding a BNO visa cannot be identified by the department.

Data from HESA shows that there were 17,905 students from Hong Kong studying at UK HE providers for the 2022/23 academic year.