§ 22. Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many overseas students were enrolled in British universities for each of the years 1969–70, 1973–74, 1977–78 and 1981–82; and what are the provisional figures for 1982–83.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe numbers of overseas students—including those from other EC countries—enrolled in universities in Great Britain for the years 1969–70, 1973–74 and 1977–78 were 16,544, 24,708 and 35,191, respectively. The provisional figure for 1981–82 was 30,400. No information is yet available for 1982–83.
§ 30. Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on overseas student fees.
§ Mr. WaldegraveRecommended fees for overseas students in 1982–83 were announced by my right hon. Friend on 10 March in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mr. Hawksley). More generally, the Government have welcomed the study of options for overseas students' fees published by the Overseas Students Trust on 6 June and are giving further consideration to its proposals.
Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what reduction in the number of overseas students in the United Kingdom he estimates has been brought about by his proposals on fees.
§ Mr. WaldegraveFull cost fees for overseas students were introduced for those starting their course in 1980–81. In that year the number of new students was about 9,500 fewer than in the previous year, and provisional figures show a further fall of 5,400 in 1981–82. The decreases were not necessarily solely due to the introduction of full cost fees, the effect of which cannot be separately identified.
§ Sir Harold Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total number of students from the United Kingdom and overseas, respectively, on the books of the technological universities of Aston, Bradford, Brunel, Heriot-Watt and Salford, for the academic years 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82; and, for each of these years, what are the total numbers, United Kingdom and overseas, commencing study at these institutions.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe information is as follows. It should be noted that in the table students from the European Community are included with home students from 1980–81 when they became available to the home rate of fee.
49W
Student Numbers by Fee Status 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82* Home Overseas Home Overseas Home Overseas All students Aston 4,610 989 4,438 868 4,192 788 Bradford 4,315 703 4,488 572 4,385 482 Brunel 2,433 329 2,576 250 2,739 186 Heriot-Watt 2,677 397 2,820 385 2,564 298 Salford 3,899 685 3,928 621 3,787 500 New Entrants Aston 1,661 464 1,497 391 1,300 411 Bradford 1,389 312 1,490 201 1,341 193 Brunel 835 142 820 87 829 87 Heriot-Watt 924 151 988 151 835 123 Salford 1,388 298 1,372 174 1,150 141 * Provisional.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will investigate the feasibility of charging students from Commonwealth countries the same reduced university fees as are automatically provided to students from Common Market countries and from France's overseas territories; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveCharging university students from the Commonwealth the home rate of tuition fee, which is paid by EC students, would cost an estimated £47 million a year on the basis of 1980 figures and prices and has had to be ruled out on grounds of expense.