Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support for funding is available to international students from (a) India and (b) China to study at UK universities.

Overseas students and staff make an important contribution to our universities and it is testament to our system that so many international students choose to come and study here.

The government welcomes international students and we actively promote study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council. The government also announced on 21 January that the Department for Education and the Department for International Trade will produce an international education strategy in early 2019. The strategy will set out the government’s ambition for international education, in which international students play a key role.

Chevening is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s flagship international scholarship programme offering fully funded post-graduate study to exceptional future leaders from around the world. This year we have 1790 scholars from across 140 countries, including 75 from China and 57 from India. There are also various scholarships offered by a number of UK institutions.

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) in the UK awards scholarships and fellowships to Commonwealth citizens for postgraduate study and professional development. In 2018/19, the CSC is supporting some 798 students to study in the UK, of which 83 are from India.