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EDUCATION – RUSSELL GROUP UNIVERSITIES & OVERSEAS STUDENT ADMISSIONS - 29 January 2024

EDUCATION – RUSSELL GROUP UNIVERSITIES & OVERSEAS STUDENT ADMISSIONS - 29 January 2024

Sir Julian Lewis: Will the Minister be investigating the discovery, exposed by The Sunday Times yesterday, of Russell Group universities taking students with much lower academic qualifications for undergraduate degrees, and when he does so, will he check that the same is not happening in the postgraduate field, given the much higher fees that can be charged for overseas students?

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon): I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. He will know that, while I am a strong supporter of international students, I am absolutely clear that I want a level playing field for all domestic students as well. I met vice-chancellors only yesterday afternoon, as soon I had seen the report in The Sunday Times, and I have asked the Department for Education to carry out an urgent investigation into bad practice by agents where it occurs, as I was very disturbed by what I saw. We want absolute fairness of entry for domestic students as much as for international students.]