Number of Hong Kong students at state schools in England surges 400 per cent in past 2 years

Britain’s Department of Education says latest data shows 5,400 Hong Kong pupils studied in state schools in England in the 2022-23 academic year

But number could be even larger as annual survey is voluntary, department official notes

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Visitors take in the sights of Birmingham city centre. The city is proving popular with Hongkongers who have moved to Britain. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00am, 12 Aug 2023Updated: 9:51pm, 12 Aug 2023

The number of Hong Kong students at state-funded schools in England has surged more than 400 per cent over the past two years after the UK launched its pathway to citizenship for city residents, a British government survey has found.

Britain’s Department of Education said the latest data showed 5,400 Hong Kong pupils were studying in schools in England during the 2022-23 academic year, but noted the figures were not reflective of the true number as the annual poll was voluntary.

“This means that any count we provide of pupils known to be of Hong Kong origin will be an undercount to an unknown degree,” said Ann Claytor, a statistician with the department’s school census statistics team.

Hongkongers can apply for citizenship after spending five continuous years in the United Kingdom Photo: AP

She also stressed that schools could just identify pupils within the wider “Chinese” grouping without specifying if they were from Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore.

The survey also only covers schools in England.

According to the figures, the number of “Asian-Chinese” pupils at state-funded nurseries and schools rose from 37,943 in 2020-21 to 48,396 in 2021-22, before increasing to 58,731 a year later.

The census team told the Post that the number of Asian-Chinese students from Hong Kong stood at 1,081 in 2020-21, when the UK introduced the British National (Overseas) visa scheme.

The figure increased to 3,068 the next year and rose to 5,423 in 2022-23.