Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the change in the cost of visa fees for students from 4 October 2023 on the (a) financial sustainability and (b) resilience of higher education institutions; and if she will make a statement.

The UK is home to some of the world’s top universities, who benefit from strong international ties. We have educated 55 current and recent world leaders and have four out of the top 10 universities globally.

The Government has been successful in delivering our International Education Strategy ambition of hosting at least 600,000 students per year by 2030 for the last two years, and fully expects that the UK will continue to be an attractive destination for international students.

The Government is increasing fees across a range of immigration routes, including for people coming here to live, work and study. It is the Government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer. This will in turn, allow more funding to be prioritised elsewhere in the Home Office.

Our visa fees are broadly competitive when compared with the fees charge by comparative countries globally and there is little evidence that fee increases to date have significantly affected demand on work, study and tourism routes.