§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many postgraduate students there are in receipt of public funds at universities and colleges in England and Wales; and what is their average period of study.
§ Dr. BoysonThe available information relates to Great Britain. In 1979–80 there were about 13,700 full-time and sandwich postgraduates in the universities supported by awards from the Department of Education and Science or by the research councils. A further 2,400 postgraduates in colleges of further education were supported from these sources. In the universities a further 12,500 full-time and sandwich postgraduate students were supported by other Government Departments, by local authorities or by the universities themselves. Information is not available on the numbers of postgraduates in colleges of further education supported by these means except for 4,000 students on postgraduate teacher-training courses. The average period of study for all full-time and sandwich postgraduates in the universities from all sources of support is about 1.6 years.