Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the contribution to the economy of (a) foreign students at UK universities and (b) their dependents.

The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector.

According to a report from the HE Policy Institute report in 2023, a cohort of first-year international students enrolled at UK universities in the 2021/22 academic year had an estimated net economic impact of £37.4 billion across the duration of their studies. The net economic impact per student was estimated to be £98,000 per ‘typical’ international student in the 2021/22 cohort. This means that every 10 international students generate around £1 million worth of net economic impact for the UK economy over the duration of their studies. This report highlights the significant economic benefit international students have on the UK economy.

The department does not hold any data on the economic contribution of dependants of international students who study at UK universities.