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Overseas Students: Fees and Charges

Asked by Jack RankinConservativeDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 17 January 2025UIN 22856

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of full-time undergraduate students paying international fees who are (a) British nationals and (b) non-domiciled in the UK.

Answered by Janet Daby

The department is not able to identify students who are paying international fees who are (a) British nationals and (b) non-domiciled in the UK.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on students coming from overseas to study in UK higher education providers (HEPs). Information on the type of fees a student pays, however, is not collected across all UK HEPs.

The legal nationality of the student is collected across all HEPs that submit data to HESA. The department estimates that of the 288,465 full-time, undergraduate, international students (those with permanent address outside the UK) enrolled in UK HEPs in the 2022/23 academic year, 12,805 declared that they held British nationality. Of the remaining full-time, undergraduate, international students, 271,505 declared that they held an overseas nationality and 4,155 have an unknown nationality.

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