§ Mr. Altonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the introduction of student loans to replace student grants.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMy right hon. Friend agrees with his predecessor's expressed view that there would be considerable merit in a system which would replace the present system of grants by a scheme of student support involving a mixture of grants and loans. He is reconsidering his predecessor's assessment that economic circumstances make a shift in such a direction, together with other desirable related changes, impracticable, but my right hon. Friend recognises that such a change could be introduced only, if at all, after due preparation and gradually.
Third level students by subject fields—1977 (Percentages) Arts Social Sciences Medicine Law Commercial Business Adminstration United Kingdom 12 9 6 2 13 Federal Republic of Germany 8 14 15 6 2 France *30 8 23 16 not available Italy 15 8 24 12 7 Netherlands 20 16 10 5 2 Belgium 13 7 24 6 11 Luxembourg 8 16 18 6 nil Ireland 25 3 8 3 11 Denmark 16 9 14 4 11 Greece 11 22 11 11 10 United States of America 14 †33 7 3 — Japan 17 †35 5 — — * Includes teacher training and education science. † Includes commercial and business administration.