Higher Education (Hansard, 10 June 1986)

§ 9. Mr. Chapman
asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied with the number and proportion of school leavers taking up places in higher education; and if he will make a statement on future trends.

§ Mr. Walden
The increase in the number of young entrants to higher education as a proportion of the relevant age group from 12.4 per cent. in 1979 to around 14 per cent. last year is very satisfactory. We hope that there will be further increases over the next decade.

§ Mr. Chapman
I welcome the increase and hope that the trend will continue. Does my hon. Friend agree that his figures belie the assiduously cultivated propaganda that apparantly fewer and fewer potential students can afford to embark upon courses in higher education? Does he further agree that, essentially, the policy must be to ensure the quality and relevance of courses in higher education for the needs of our society as well as for the edification of students themselves?

§ Mr. Walden
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his perspicacious remarks. The Government are trying to get both quality and numbers. Unfortunately, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State stole my best lines, but it is a good story, so I can elaborate a bit. We have now not only the largest ever absolute number of students, but the largest ever proportion of 18-year-olds in education. We have also a rising proportion of school leavers with the necessary A-levels and the highest ever numbers of mature students. That does not seem to be a bad show overall.

§ Mr. Sheerman
Will the Minister admit that a large number of students who, in 1979 and 1981, would have got into higher education, cannot do so now because of the cuts that the Government have imposed on that sector? The index of qualified students shows that that is the case. Have the Government not failed to provide places for students equally well-qualified as those in 1981? The Government's record is abysmal compared to the industrial nations with whom we compete.

§ Mr. Walden
The hon. Member's path to the Dispatch Box is paved with banana skins. As in his last supplementary question, that was last year's story. He knows, and I have just given him the details, that we are increasing the numbers and are proud of it. The age participation index, to use a technical term, is up. The qualified participation index, which means the number of school leavers with the necessary couple of A-levels, is also increasing.