HC Deb 28 June 1995 vol 262 cc725-30W
Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the percentage of university-polytechnic students entitled to(a) full maintenance grant and (b) no maintenance grant in each year since 1979. [30360]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The information requested is set out in the table. It covers all Scottish domiciled award holders attending full-time courses of higher education.

Academic year Percentage of applicants receiving full maintenance grant Percentage of applicants receiving no maintenance grant
1979–80 38.2 9.3
1980–81 39.9 7.0
1981–82 38.6 7.7
1982–83 34.6 9.3
1983–84 34.3 10.6
1984–85 34.1 17.3
1985–86 34.6 22.7
1986–87 36.4 23.8
1987–88 35.9 26.6
1988–89 36.1 26.4
1989–90 35.7 26.8
1990–91 35.4 27.9
1991–92 38.7 26.2
1992–93 40.9 25.1
1993–94 43.0 24.1
1994–951 44.2 25.1
1 Provisional.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the changes to university and polytechnic student maintenance grant entitlement since 1974; [30359]

(2) what has been the value of full university student grant for each year since 1974–75 prices. [30357]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The information requested in relation to Scottish domiciled students is set out in the table.

Year1 Maintenance grant2 1994–95 prices3 Student loan4 1994 prices5
1974–75 605 3,056 n/a
1975–76 740 2,944.9 n/a
1976–77 875 3,041.4 n/a
1977–78 1,010 3,033.4 n/a
1978–79 1,100 3,062.1 n/a
1979–80 1,245 2,995.5 n/a
1980–81 1,430 2,996.7 n/a
1981–82 1,535 2,874.5 n/a
1982–83 1,595 2,783.4 n/a
1983–84 1,660 2,752.7 n/a
1984–85 1,725 2,752.6 n/a

Year1 Maintenance grant2 1994–95 prices3 Student loan4 1994 prices3
1985–86 1,775 2,682.7 n/a
1986–87 1,846 2,697.6 n/a
1987–88 1,915 2,703.4 n/a
1988–89 1,990 2,671.2 n/a
1989–90 2,090 2,650.5 n/a
1990–91 2,200 2,548.8 420 486.6
1991–92 2,200 2,411.7 580 635.8
1992–93 2,200 2,318.6 715 753.5
1993–94 2,200 2,245 800 816.4
1994–95 1,975 1,975 1,150 1,150
1 The figures relate to academic years September-August.2 The rate used is the maximum rate payable to a student who lives outwith the parental home other than in London during term-time with no allowance for parental or other contributions.
3 1994–95 prices have been calculated using the Retail Prices Index for the appropriate financial year.
4 With effect from academic year 1990–91 student maintenance support was provided by a combination of grant and loan.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the university-polytechnic total student population for each year from 1974–75; and what it will be in each year to 1998–99. [30361]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The full-time equivalent number of students studying higher education courses in higher education institutions in Scotland, for the years 1980–81 to 1994–95 is given in the table:

Full-time equivalent number of students studying Higher Education courses at Higher Education Institutions in Scotland
Year Number
1980–81 70,663
1981–82 71,945
1982–83 72,115
1983–84 74,042
1984–85 74,454
1985–86 76,058
1986–87 77,791
1987–88 78,495
1988–89 80,831
1989–90 85,238
1990–91 91,699
1991–92 100,066
1992–93 109,679
1993–94 116,668
1994–951 122,152
1 Provisional.

Information about the student population in the years before 1980–81 is not readily available.

My right hon. Friend set out the number of places he expects to be eligible for funding by SHEFC in the years 1995–96 to 1997–98 in "Serving Scotland's Needs" (Cm 2814). These are set out in the table. These figures are not comparable with those in the table above as they exclude overseas students and include students following courses of further education at the HEIs funded by SHEFC, and do not include students and the Scottish agriculture college.

Full-time equivalent places at SHEFC—funded Higher Education Institutions
Year Number
1995–96 118,200
1996–97 118,000
1997–98 119,000

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the drop-out rate for university and polytechnic courses in each year since 1979. [30311]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: Comprehensive information on rates of non-completion by students studying at Scottish higher education institutions has not been collected centrally in previous years. The Higher Education Statistics agency will be collecting the information in future, commencing with the current academic year.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is his estimate of the annual cost of providing the full maintenance grant to all university students; [30315]

(2) what would be the annual cost of paying (a) all fees for and (b) the full maintenance grant to, all part time university students. [30314]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The cost in either case would depend upon the decisions taken about eligible courses, their duration, the fee payable, the level of maintenance grant, and the account to be taken of the personal circumstances of potentially eligible students.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimates of the staff-student ratio at universities and their forerunners in each year from 1974–75 to 1997–98. [30355]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The student-staff ratio at universities previously funded by the Universities Funding Council, for the years 1985–86 to 1993–94, is shown in the table:

Student staff ratio at universities in Scotland1
Year
1985–86 7.3
1986–87 7.1
1987–88 7.2
1988–89 7.4
1989–90 7.4
1990–91 7.6
1991–92 8.0
1992–93 8.7
1993–94 9.1
Source:
University Statistics Volume 3.
1 The student/staff ratio was calculated by comparing full-time equivalent students against full-time equivalent staff.

Information for the years prior to 1985–86 and after 1993–94 is not readily available.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average cost to the Exchequer of each student in university education for each year since 1984–85, broken down by(a) maintenance grant, (b) fees and (c) other. [30363]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: Not all the information is available in the form requested. The table sets out the average cost of student maintenance and tuition fee payments for Scottish domiciled students up to academic year 1993–94, the latest period for which complete figures are available.

Academic year Average maintenance cost (including loan) £ Average tuition fee £
1984–85 11,101 538
1985–86 1,041 557
1986–87 1,086 568
1987–88 1,097 583
1988–89 1,157 618
1989–90 1,210 650
1990–91 21,662 31,567
1991–92 2l,902 32,219
1992–93 22,088 32,327
1993–94 22,251 32,074
1 The information provided for the period 1984–85 to 1988–89 is not strictly comparable with that for the period 1989–90 to 1993–94 due to minor changes in recording procedures.
2 Includes student loan payments at the appropriate average rate.
3 The changes in average fee payments over the later years reflect shifts in the balance of funding tuition costs as between institutional grant-in-aid and individual tuition fees.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what would be the cost of reducing the level of university fees paid by non-European Community country students to the fee levels paid by students from European Community countries. [30317]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: Fee levels for students from non European Union countries are set by higher education institutions themselves at their discretion. Information on these levels is not held centrally.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the total Government expenditure on university and polytechnic maintenance grants for each year since 1974–75 in 1994 prices. [30358]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The information requested in respect of Scottish domiciled award-holders for academic year 1980–81 onwards is set out in the table. Information for early years is not readily available in this form.

Academic Year Maintenance Expenditure £ million 1994–95 prices
1980–81 60.63 127.1
1981–82 64.93 121.6
1982–83 65.27 113.9
1983–84 68.27 113.2
1984–85 64.07 102.2
1985–86 60.98 92.2
1986–87 63.21 92.4
1987–88 64.78 91.5
1988–89 71.22 95.6
1989–90 79.70 101.1
1990–91 90.13 104.4
1991–92 110.52 121/2

Academic Year Maintenance Expenditure £ million 1994–95 prices
1992–93 128.67 135.6
1993–94 150.55 153.6
1994–95 (provisional) 148.56 148.6

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the cost in the current year of restoring the value of the student maintenance grant to its real 1979 level. [30362]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: In view of the major changes made to the student support system in the intervening period, including the introduction of student loans in 1990, the cost would very much depend on whether or not these changes were to be reserved.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of students in higher education in the year 2000. [30312]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: There is no such estimate at present. My right hon. Friend's latest expenditure plans, for the financial years up to 1997–98, are set out in the Department's report, "Serving Scotland's Needs" (Cm 2814).

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average level of student loan for university students in 1994–95. [30316]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The average level of loan for all borrowers throughout the United Kingdom in academic year 1993–94, the latest year for which data are available, was £736. Separate figures for university students are not available.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what is his estimate of the(a) average cost and (b) marginal cost of university students in 1995–96. [30404]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council estimates that the average recurrent cost per student place at the Scottish higher education institutions it funds will be £4,019 in the academic year 1995–96. This calculation takes account of SHEFC recurrent grant for teaching and estimated tuition fees, but takes no account of SHEFC funding for research or capital purposes.

It is estimated that the average costs of maintenance paid by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland for Scottish domiciled students in higher education in 1995–96 will be £1,500 per student.

Estimates of marginal costs per student for 1995–96 are not available.

Mr. Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the total number of university students with a student loan, in each year from 1987–88 to 1997–98. [30318]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 27 June 1995]: The information is not readily available in the format requested. The Students Loans Company Ltd. first issued loans in the academic year 1990–91. The total numbers of loans issued in each academic year to students in higher education throughout the United Kingdom are:

  • 1990–91 180,000
  • 1991–92 261,000
  • 1992–93 345,000
  • 1993–94 430,000

The latest forecast figure for 1994–95 is 525,000

The forecast figures for future years which underlie the Supply Estimates are:

  • 1995–96: 672,000
  • 1996–97: 731,000
  • 1997–98: 768,000

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