§ Mrs. Bainasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the expenditure per capita from public funds on students at Scottish and English universities, respectively; and what is the separate figure for each of the Scottish universities.
§ Mr. PrenticeIn the academic year 1972–73 the average recurrent expenditure per student from public funds, excluding the cost of student maintenance, was at Scottish universities £1,250 and at English universities £1,370. The unit expenditures at individual Scottish universities were: Aberdeen, £1,300, Dundee £1,470, Edinburgh £1,310, Glasgow, £1,330, Heriot-Watt £930, St. Andrews £1,060, Stirling £1,150 and Strathclyde £1,130.
It is important to emphasise that unit costs at individual universities are heavily 157W influenced by the range and balance of subjects catered for. For example, medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses increase costs significantly. Other factors which contribute to variations in unit costs are the numbers of students that a particular university decides to admit and its balance between undergraduates and postgraduates. Thus the factors which determine a university's unit costs have nothing at all to do with whether a university is situated north or south of the Scottish border.