§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's proposals for higher education on the numbers of dental students; and what research his Department has evaluated on this matter. [43019]
§ Dr. HowellsThe progress of applications to enter higher education in October 1998 is being closely monitored. Although applications for Clinical Dentistry are currently down on last year (from 11,939 to 10,381 as at 16 May according to figures from the Universities and Colleges Admission Service) we do not expect universities to have difficulty meeting the UK dental target of 805 places per year.