Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Damian Green (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 16 June 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Overseas Students

Question: The Minister knows that, of the many welcome overseas students in the country, 40,000 from other European Union countries are entitled to access to the student loan system. Unfortunately, the Government appear to have no recourse for getting the loans back from them when they return home. Is it not perverse that we appear to have a grant system for some overseas students in our universities but only a loan system for British students? What will the Minister do about it?

Answer: We are bringing back student grants for British students, but we will have a robust process to ensure that we recover debts from other European Union students. We especially anticipate relying on European Council regulation 44/2001 for the recovery of debt from borrowers who live in other parts of the EU. We are already working on the process and we will ensure that, by 2006, we have a robust system in place to recover the money.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 435 c389
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Loans Overseas students Entry clearances Higher education Universities Visas Students Student numbers
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk