Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the introduction of international fees on the number of applications from EU nationals for (a) undergraduate, (b) Masters and (c) PhD study.

To help give certainty we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals.

The government announced in July 2018 that EU nationals (and their family members) who start a course in England in the 2019/20 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and student finance support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course, provided they meet the residency requirement. These guarantees apply whether the UK leaves the EU with a deal or not. Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will ensure students and institutions have the information they need well in advance of that date.

Students from the EU make an important contribution to the universities sector and it is a testament to our system that so many students from abroad choose to come and study here. The arrangements for EU nationals will be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK's relationship with the EU. We continue to assess options to prepare for those discussions.