§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received regarding numbers of students in higher education. [17727]
§ Mr. ForthMy right hon. Friend regularly receives representations from a range of bodies and institutions on a number of higher education issues, including student numbers. Nearly one in three young people in Britain now enters full-time higher education, compared with one in eight in 1979. Our spending plans assume that this record participation rate will continue. Longer-term plans for student numbers will be decided in the light of recommendations from the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education.