HC Deb 04 March 1985 vol 74 cc369-70W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of BSc undergraduate and MSc postgraduate university courses have had a reduction in bursaries provided by the Medical Research Council in the last two years.

Mr. Brooke

The main source of support for undergraduate students in the science, as in other disciplines, is mandatory awards administered by local education authorities. However, the Medical Research Council (MRC) makes available a limited number of intercalated awards to medical and dental schools, to enable certain students to take an honours science degree. The allocation of intercalated awards to individual courses and students is a matter for the school concerned. In each of the academic years 1983–84 and 1984–84 the MRC provided 380 such awards.

In 1983–84 the council awarded 105 advanced course postgraduate studentships among 52 MSc courses. In 1984–85 the same number of studentships was distributed among 53 courses.