To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department takes to check the employment status of foreign nationals in the United Kingdom to study. (178127)

I have been asked to reply.

Foreign nationals with permission to study in the United Kingdom may work up to 20 hours per week during term time or full-time during vacations without the need to seek permission from their local Jobcentre Plus office or to obtain a work permit. It is the responsibility of an employer to establish that a foreign national is entitled to take employment in the UK. The Border and Immigration Agency has provided a helpline for employers to check the status of foreign nationals who seek to work in the United Kingdom.