Overseas Students: Loans
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Student Loans Company administrative data showing an increase in the proportion of student finance loans awarded to non-UK nationals from 10.2 per cent in the 2014-2015 academic year to 19.3 per cent in 2024-2025, what assessment her Department has made of the policy, legal and demographic factors driving this increase.
Answered by Department for Education
The department cannot validate the numbers quoted, however, previously published data shows non-UK nationals increased from 12.1 per cent of student loan recipients in 2020/21 to 18.8 per cent in 2024/25.
Eligibility for student support is based on residency and immigration status, not nationality, targeting resources on students who are likely to stay indefinitely and contribute to the economy. To qualify for student support, including student loans, a person residing in England must be settled or have a recognised connection to the UK.
This includes persons who are covered by the EU Withdrawal Agreement, have long residence in this country, or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. Persons who are settled must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course.
The department keeps the student finance system under review and is taking action to protect public money, including strengthening oversight of franchised higher education provision.
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