HL Deb 27 June 1996 vol 573 c67WA
The Earl of Sandwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many overseas students undertaking postgraduate courses or training in the United Kingdom (a) in 1980; and (b) today are from Commonwealth countries, how many from EU countries and how many from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Lord Henley

The available information is as follows:

Full-time postgraduate students from overseas in the UK (thousands)
1981–82 1994–95
Total (1) 17.5 41.1
of which: Commonwealth 6.7 11.9
EU 1.8 12.3
Other Europe 0.8 2.2

The available data do not allow the "Other Europe" category to be further disaggregated to show reliable estimates for the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

1. The categorisation of countries reflects the position in the year stated. Thus, for example, EU includes Spain and Portugal in 1994–95 but not in 1981–82 when they were included under "Other Europe".