Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they have on the number of international students studying in English universities who attended English independent schools, and what assessment they have made of any potential loss of income for English universities as a result of levying VAT on independent school fees.

The department does hold some information on the type of school attended by students prior to entering higher education in the UK. However, this is only mandatory for UK domiciled students and is optional for providers to complete for international students. Therefore, the information held by the department is of unreliable quality and Higher Education Statistics Agency publish this information for UK domiciled students only.

HM Treasury will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note that considers the impact of these tax changes at Budget on 30 October.