Department for Education written question – answered at on 3 June 2026.
Siân Berry
Green Spokesperson (Justice), Green Spokesperson (Transport), Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Green Spokesperson (Democratic Standards), Green Spokesperson (Home), Green Party Chief Whip
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total annual value of inward investment attributable to international students in each of the last five years; and what the average contribution of international student was in each of those years.
Josh MacAlister
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education
The government is committed to a United Kingdom that is outward looking and welcomes international students who make a positive contribution to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK HE sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on UK HE providers, such as the income they receive through tuition fees.
Between the 2020/21 and 2024/25 academic years, HE tuition fee income that is attributed to international students in the UK steadily increased from £8.81 billion to £12.40 billion.
The average tuition fee income per international student at UK HE providers increased from £14,700 in the 2020/21 academic year to £18,100 in the 2024/25 academic year. More information on international tuition fee income is available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-6.
The department produces estimates of UK revenue from education-related exports and transnational education activity. The latest available estimates are for 2022.
International students generated £21.06 in HE exports in 2022 through tuition fees and living expenditure. In 2018, they generated £14.93. More information on total HE education exports is available in the table below.
Calendar year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Total HE exports (inclusive of fee income) (£ billion) | £14.93 | £16.66 | £18.71 | £19.84 | £21.06 |
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
