Reports that this Government could cause monumental damage to higher education by restricting international students to so-called elite universities have been described by former Universities Minister Lord Johnson as a “mindless crackdown”. Can the Secretary of State confirm that this Government will not implement such a mindless policy?

I can confirm that we have a world-class education system and we will attract the brightest students from around the world. That is good for our universities and delivers growth at home. We were proud to meet our international student ambition earlier this year to attract 600,000 international students per year by 2030. Today that is worth £29.5 billion and we are now focused on bringing in £35 billion from our education exports, which are the best in the world.

[Official Report, 28 November 2022, Vol. 723, c. 652.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan).

An error has been identified in my response to the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan).

The correct response should have been:

I can confirm that we have a world-class education system and we will attract the brightest students from around the world. That is good for our universities and delivers growth at home. We were proud to meet our international student ambition earlier this year to attract 600,000 international students per year by 2030. Today that is worth £25.9 billion and we are now focused on bringing in £35 billion from our education exports, which are the best in the world.