HC Deb 06 March 1987 vol 111 cc704-5W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about support for dental schools in the United Kingdom; if he will list those that have been visited by the University Grants Committee during the past six months; what resources each dental school has been allocated as a result of the University Grants Committee's recommendations; how many students are currently in each; and how much additional capital expenditure is to be made available for each school.

Mr. Walden

Provision for dental schools in Great Britain is not separately identified in the University Grants Committee's recurrent grant allocations for their parent universities. The latest allocations were issued on 10 February 1987, a copy is in the Library. No dental school has been visited by the University Grants Committee itself during the past six months, but three in London— United Medical and Dental Schools, King's College Dental School and University College Dental School—have been visited by the committee's dental review working party set up to consider the future organisation of national provision for dental education, and to advise on rationalisation.

The Department does not hold information on total student numbers in the form requested. The full-time equivalent student load in clinical dentistry for each university in Great Britain with a dental school in 1984–85 was as follows:

Undergraduate Postgraduate
Birmingham 254 6
Bristol 149 4
Leeds 184 11
Liverpool 214 8
London 914 219
Manchester 205 23
Newcastle 263 2
Sheffield 145 6
Wales 153 18
Dundee 124
Edinburgh 138 4
Aberdeen 221 13

The following new capital projects in dental schools have been approved by the University Grants Committee:

£ million
Edinburgh
Academic accommodation in new hospital 0.27
Sheffield
Extension to dental school 2.07

The latter project is subject to the outcome of the dental review.