Higher Education: Asylum

(asked on 27th January 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of asylum seekers enrolled in university access programmes in each of the last five years.


Answered by
Janet Daby Portrait
Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 4th February 2025

The UK has a longstanding and proud tradition of providing a safe haven to those who have no choice but to leave their home country because of endangerment to their lives or to those of their families. Higher education (HE) student support is available to those recognised as refugees, as well as their spouses, civil partners and children who were family members on the date the refugee applied for asylum, provided they have been ordinarily, i.e. lawfully, resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) since being recognised by the government as a refugee and are ordinarily resident in England on the course start date. They are exempt from the three-year ordinary residence requirement.

Individuals seeking asylum are not entitled to student support in England whilst they are seeking asylum.

The department does not hold data on the number of asylum seekers that have started or are currently enrolled on an HE course at a UK HE provider in any of the last five years.

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