Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to set a growth target for international student numbers studying at UK universities; and if he will make a statement.

The target of increasing the value of education exports to £30 billion by 2020 was set in 2015 under the coalition government. The target is rightly ambitious and the department remains committed to working with the rest of government and the sector to drive progress towards it.

The latest statistics, which were published by the department earlier this year, estimated that the total value of UK education exports and transnational education activity was £19.3 billion in 2015, marking an increase of 22% since 2010.

Growing education exports is an important priority, and the government supports this through the work of the Department for International Trade (DIT)’s team dedicated to education exports. In addition, DIT’s Education Sector Advisory Group, which was chaired by my hon. Friend, the Member for Beverley and Holderness, and which I attended, supports the international aspirations and activity of the UK education sector and explores the ways in which growth can be increased.

The department’s international team supports this work and leads on a number of formal bilateral agreements, underpinned by memorandums of understanding and ministerial dialogues and visits. The team is also a key partner in a number of regular high-level international events, such as the Education World Forum, which is held annually in the UK.

Accounting for approximately 60% of all education exports, international students are of course an important part of this work.

The UK continues to be very successful in attracting international students. There is no cap on the number who can study here and we are second only to the USA in terms of our market share. Numbers remain at record high levels, with over 170,000 non-EU entrants to UK higher education institutions for the seventh year running.

India is an important partner in education, and the UK’s fourth largest source country for international students. The government actively promotes study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and through the British Council, which promotes the UK in over 100 countries, including India. I am pleased to say that we have seen recent increases in student numbers from India and, since 2011, student visas granted to Indian nationals have increased by 28%.

To help inform decisions on the future migration system, the government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide an objective assessment of the impact of EU and non-EU international students at all levels of education. The MAC has now published its report, and the government is carefully considering its conclusions and recommendations. We intend to publish a white paper on the UK’s future immigration system later this year.