Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the UK visa system and (b) Government discourse on migration encourage international students to choose (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK as their study destination.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our offer to international students is extremely competitive, attracting the brightest and best talent the world has to offer, and welcoming people who will contribute to the UK’s excellent academic reputation and help keep our universities competitive on the world stage. The Government appreciates the significant academic, economic and cultural contribution international students make to the UK’s society as a whole.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential (a) merits of extending eligibility for Disabled Students’ Allowance to international students and (b) impact of the existing eligibility criteria on educational inequalities in higher education.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government appreciates the significant economic and cultural contribution that international students make to UK higher education (HE). The department’s offer to international students remains very competitive and the department is committed to ensuring the UK remains a destination of choice for the brightest and best international students from across the globe.
To be eligible for Disabled Students Allowance, students must: (a) meet the personal eligibility criteria for student finance within the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 and be studying a course designated for student support; and (b) have a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
Entitlement to student support and home fee status is limited to eligible students who are undertaking HE courses offered by UK institutions that are designated for support. This is to ensure that the HE student finance system remains financially sustainable. The government has no plans to extend home fee status and student support to international students.
All HE providers must fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 in their support for all disabled HE students regardless of whether they are home or international students.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made in implementing the objectives of the International Education Strategy to increase the (a) value of education exports and (b) number of international higher education students studying in the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The International Education Strategy (IES) is a UK wide strategy which commits to growing the value of education exports. An update to the department’s IES was published on 26 May 2023. This is the third annual progress update to the original 2019 IES. A link to the 2023 update can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-2023-update.
The UK has met the IES international student ambition of 600 thousand per year by 2030 for two years running in both 2020/21 and 2021/22. The department is on track and will continue working towards the IES education export ambition of £35 billion per year by 2030 with £27.9 billion revenue in 2021. Data used to track progress against these two ambitions is published annually.
As the International Education Champion, Professor Sir Steve Smith continues to promote UK education export growth and supports ministers to engage in strategic discussions on progress on implementing the strategy with the education sector.
Correspondence Apr. 17 2024
Committee: Welsh Affairs Committee (Department: Wales Office)Found: Are there any international examples that struggling communities can learn from, of people pooling resources
Apr. 17 2024
Source Page: Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Business Plan 2024 to 2027Found: We currently support more than 50 PhD students and three post-doctoral researchers to encourage future
Formal Minutes Apr. 17 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: Report ( Attitudes towards women and girls in ed ucational settings: Government, Ofsted and Office for Students
Apr. 17 2024
Source Page: Immigration Rules archive: 11 March 2024 to 3 April 2024Found: , ensures that such students are registered with the UK degree awarding body.
Apr. 17 2024
Source Page: UK renewables deployment supply chain readinessFound: There is intense national and international competition for new and experienced hires with these skillsets
Mentions:
1: Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab - Life peer) too busy battling to provide services—often in extremely difficult circumstances—to their patients, students - Speech Link
2: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bshp - Bishops) Such bodies raise and hold endowment funds for such purposes in order to enable students and pupils from - Speech Link
3: Lord Hain (Lab - Life peer) Dr Saeed Bagheri, scholar of international law at the University of Reading, stated of Israel in January - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone (Con - Life peer) I fear that one of the great damages from all this is to one of our national and international centres - Speech Link