The Bishop of Sheffield received the following written answers on 16th September 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to promote and support vocational development and training between United Kingdom further education institutions and their equivalents overseas.
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab, DfE): This government is committed to supporting educational partnerships between the UK and our overseas partners, including in further education.
The UK’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, spearheads overseas activities, opening up partnership opportunities and developing strong relationships. Sir Steve’s international missions promote all sectors and areas of education. We are currently reviewing the UK’s International Education Strategy to ensure that it continues to reflect the priorities of the entire education sector and provides an attractive offer, including on vocational training and skills, to our global partners. We are working closely with the sector and aiming to publish the refreshed strategy this year.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the further education sector.
Baroness Smith of Malvern: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) will support with the delivery of the government’s Plan for Change.
The government has published the AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan(opens in a new tab). This considered barriers to AI take-up across the economy and made 50 recommendations. The further education sector will enable the delivery of short new courses in areas such as AI, digital, and engineering. These will be funded through the Growth and Skills Levy to support Industrial Strategy sectors from April 2026.
In August 2025, the department published a policy paper setting out the opportunities and challenges for the use of generative AI in the education sector. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education/generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-education?pStoreID=Http(opens in a new tab).
We are working with the education sector, educational technology industry experts, and academics to build the evidence base and support the education sector to use AI safely, responsibly, and effectively. This includes publishing free support, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/using-ai-in-education-settings-support-materials(opens in a new tab).
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what consultations they are holding with the higher education and further education sectors regarding the implications of the policy reforms introduced in the White Paper Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May.
Baroness Smith of Malvern: The immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base.
This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on higher education (HE) provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around the levy in the Autumn Budget.
We are committed to engaging with the sector on the design of the international student levy and want to understand specific concerns providers have as early as possible.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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