To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to update their target of hosting at least 600,000 international students in the UK, and (2) to increase the value of education exports to £35 billion per year by 2030.
Answered on
9 February 2022
As set out in the government’s International Education Strategy, we are committed to growing the value of education exports with two key ambitions to achieve by 2030: increasing education exports to £35 billion per year, and hosting at least 600,000 international higher education students in the UK per year.
We are making good progress against these ambitions. In 2019, total UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity was estimated to be £25.2 billion, an increase of 8.1% since 2018 in current prices. The ambition for international students was met for the first time in the academic year 2020/21 with 605,130 international students studying in the UK.
Promoting and sustaining the growth of education exports and international student numbers remains a priority for this government. We have committed to review progress regularly against the strategy and we will keep the strategy and its ambitions under review.