at international level, sanderson made her debut for england in may 2006. she was part of the england squad at the 2007 fifa women's world cup and uefa women's euro 2009. in august 2010, sanderson complained of unfair treatment and declared she would not play for england again under then coach hope powell. after mark sampson took over as manager in december 2013, she was recalled to the squad and participated at the 2015 fifa women's world cup. she then made further complaints of unfair treatment and was not selected after 2015.