§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received concerning the possible replacement of the present system of grants for United Kingdom students by a loans system since the visit by one of his Ministers to the United States of America to investigate their system of student loans; how many were in favour of a change; how many were against; how many come from student unions; and if he will list those student unions which argued both for and against the present systems of grants.
§ Mr. Mark CarlisleSince the return of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State from the United States of America on 17 September, I have received 36 representations on the subject of student loans, 14 of which were in favour of some form of change to the present system and 22 of which were against. Twelve of these representations have been received from student unions. I shall write to my hon. Friend shortly giving the further detailed information which he requests.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement
Number (thousands) Full-time and sandwich students Of whom new entrants October 1980 October 1979 Percentage change October 1980 October 1979 Percentage change Home Undergraduates 235.5 228.5 +3.1 78.2 76.4 +2.3 Postgraduates 30.3 30.1 +0.5 19.2 18.5 +3.7 Overseas* Undergraduates 16.3 17.3 -5.7 6.4 7.1 -9.3 Postgraduates 15.1 16.6 -9.0 8.4 9.4 -11.1 Home and Overseas Undergraduates 251.8 245.8 +2.4 84.6 83.5 + 1.3 Postgraduates 45.4 46.7 -2.9 27.6 27.9 -1.3 Total 297.2 292.5 + 1.6 112.2 111.4 +0.7 * These figures include students from other European Community countries. Note: Percentage changes are based on actual rather than rounded figures.
The total number of overseas students in October 1980 was more than the number on which grant was based for the academic year 1979–80, and more than planned under the previous Government's quota arrangements.
Provisional information about home and overseas students in establishments of further and higher education in England and Wales is expected to become available later in the year.