§ Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students were on engineering and technology courses at universities and colleges in Great Britain in the years 1979–80 and 1980–81; and what is the projected number for 1983–84.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe numbers of full-time home and European Community students on engineering and technology courses in the universities of Great Britain were 32,600 in 1979–80 and 34,200 in 1980–81. The University Grants Committee in its July 1981 letter to universities set student number targets for such students to be attained by 1983–84 or 1984–85. Some overall variations to the target have been agreed by the UGC in its letter to universities of 20 May 1982. In its planning assumptions, the committee assumed, for the purposes of grant distribution, that students on engineering and technology courses alone would increase by 2 per cent. 55W from 1979–80, compared with a reduction of 5 per cent. for all students. No similar projections are available in respect of overseas students in the universities other than those from the European Community.