AQW 48876/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 17/06/2026
Answered On Date: 23/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail (i) any assessment her Department has made of the opportunity cost of funding students, ordinarily resident in the Republic of Ireland, to study in Northern Ireland, including any impact on (a) teaching grant allocations; (b) student places; (c) research funding; and (d) the financial sustainability of Northern Ireland’s universities; and (ii) whether those considerations formed part of the Review of Higher Education Funding.

Answer:

Currently students from the south are treated as home students for the purposes of tuition fees and teaching grant. As such, they are supported through the Department’s funding model, including the provision of a teaching grant to institutions, and their numbers count towards the Maximum Student Number (MaSN). The Department monitors the operation of these arrangements on an ongoing basis.

Both I and my officials continue to engage with counterparts in the south on a range of issues relating to cross-border student mobility, including funding. I remain committed to working collaboratively to ensure that arrangements are sustainable and fair.

The first stage of a Higher Education Funding Review, an independent Financial Needs Assessment of the local Higher Education Institutions, has been completed. A summary of the report was published on the Departmental website on 18 March 2026. The wider Review is anticipated to take 18 months to complete. This timescale is subject to a number of factors.