PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Overseas Students (10 November 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution international students studying in the UK make to British soft power overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by:
Sir Nicholas Dakin (Labour)

The presence of international students in the UK, and UK students going overseas, helps build relationships and understanding which have life-long effects. There is no limit on the number of bona fide overseas students able to study in the UK, and the UK is the second most popular destination for international students after the USA.

The wider benefit to the UK of international students was considered in a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills research paper which highlighted the value of alumni becoming informal ambassadors for the UK, with the benefits increasing as they become more influential in their home country. Research by the British Council suggests that the average level of trust in the UK is 16% higher amongst those who had participated in cultural relations activities such as education.

Answered by:
Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative)
18 November 2015