Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following a letter from Baroness Smith of Malvern to Hong Kong Watch on 3 October, in which it was suggested that Hong Kong British National (Overseas) students who cannot afford international university fees could appeal to have their fees waived, what assessment they have made of the number of international students that have successfully waived their fees, in whole or part, due to financial shortcoming.

Higher education (HE) institutions in England are autonomous bodies and it is for them to assess whether applications for fees which do not meet the criteria for automatic home fee status should be reduced or waived in line with individual circumstances. The department has not made an assessment on the number of international students that have successfully had their fees waived.

There are a range of resources and support for international students looking for scholarships, which can be found on the UK Council for International Student Affairs website and the British Council’s Study UK page.

Many HE institutions in the UK offer a range of bursaries and scholarships to international students and the department encourages students to contact their institution to find out what support may be available. We have not carried out an assessment of the number of university scholarships or bursaries available to prospective students on British National (Overseas) visas.