Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to support international students enrolling onto higher education courses in the UK at the start of the 2021-22 academic year within the covid-international travel framework.

International students are vital and valued members of our higher education (HE) community. The government has worked closely with the HE sector throughout this year to ensure existing rules and processes have been as flexible as possible, so that international students have been able to study in the UK as planned.

The department speaks regularly with its counterparts across the government, including the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England, the Department for Transport and Cabinet Office, among others, about how various COVID-19 policies may affect students.

The UK was one of the first countries to introduce important visa concessions for international students at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and we will do our utmost to ensure this flexibility remains for as long as needed. We will continue to work with our counterparts across the government to ensure that the UK remains as accessible and welcoming as possible next academic year.