HC Deb 09 May 1978 vol 949 cc456-7W
Mrs. Chalker

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many blind students the Open University has; and on what courses they are studying and at what average cost per student.

Mr. Oakes

The Open University has 171 blind students taking 191 courses. The breakdown of courses by faculty is:

Arts 74
Educational studies 3
Social sciences 70
Mathematics 12
Science 18
Technology 14

The average annual cost to the Exchequer of an Open University undergraduate student is about £500. It is not practicable to estimate a separate cost for blind students because of their varied needs.