Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending international students’ post study leave period to find permanent skilled work.

In 2017, the Home Office commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide an objective assessment of the impact of international students in the UK for the first time.

In line with the MAC recommendations, we announced in the Immigration White Paper published in December 2018 that we will increase the post-study leave period for postgraduate students to six months, and doctorate students to a year. We will also go further, by increasing the post-study leave period for all undergraduates studying at institutions with degree awarding powers to six months.

These changes will benefit tens of thousands of students and will help ensure that our world-leading education sector remains competitive globally.