Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much financial support (a) was available in 2022-23 and (b) will be available in 2023-24 for international students training to teach languages.

To receive an initial teacher training (ITT) bursary or scholarship, trainees must usually be entitled to support under the Student Finance England criteria.

For eligible languages trainees who have started ITT courses in the 2022/23 academic year, we are offering a £15,000 tax free bursary. EU nationals who were resident in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and have pre-settled status or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, are eligible for student finance and ITT bursaries or scholarships on a similar basis to domestic students, subject to meeting the usual residence requirements.

Other non-UK nationals are unlikely to be eligible for student finance and ITT bursaries or scholarships unless they have certain types of immigration permission and have been living in the UK for some time.

For the 2023/24 academic year, the Department has extended ITT bursary and scholarship eligibility in languages and physics to all non-UK nationals, regardless of their eligibility for student finance. This means they are eligible for bursaries worth up to £27,000 tax free and scholarships worth up to £29,000 tax-free.