Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of findings from a recent IDP Connect survey which found that nearly half of prospective students surveyed were reconsidering or unsure of their plans to study in the UK following changes in policy and rules regarding international students.

The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy while maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030.

The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top 10, and 17 in the top 100. The UK has a highly sought after higher education (HE) experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running, with 679,970 international students studying at a UK university in 2021/22.

However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb the abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system. The department continues to work closely with the Home Office, the Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on HE providers.

HE providers are autonomous bodies, independent of government. As such, they are responsible for their own admission decisions. The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the HE admissions system is fair and works closely with HE providers and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.