§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students were studying at university in October 1981; what were the figures for October 1975 and October 1970; what were the funds allocated to universities for each of these dates at constant prices; and how much per head per student this represents in each case.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 17 March 1982, c. 127]: The information requested is as follows: 100W
Academic years 1970–71 1975–76 1980–81 Number of students, thousands (full-time and sandwich) 228 263 297 Recurrent grant £m (November 1981 prices) 910 1,055 960 Grant per student £ (November 1981 prices) 3,990 4,010 3,230 The grant per student figures do not reflect comparable levels of funding because the total income available to universities increased in real terms between 1975–76 and 1980–81 as a result of the increase in tuition fees in 1977–78. For most home students, the tuition fee is paid from public funds as part of the mandatory award. Taking into account income from tuition fees as well as grant, universities' gross expenditure per student for 1979–80 (the latest year for which detailed accounts have been analysed) and the earlier years amounted to:
£ November 1981 prices 1970–71 1975–76 1979–80 4,570 4,430 4,710