§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will set out the differences in the level of proposed payments of higher education tuition fees between residents of the United Kingdom according to(a) the location of the institution at which they are studying and (b) their own place of normal residence; and what are the reasons for these differences. [14058]
§ Dr. HowellsFull-time undergraduate students will be required to contribute up to a maximum of £1,000 a year in tuition fees, depending on their parents', spouses' or own income. The requirement will apply to students resident in all parts of the United Kingdom and studying in publicly funded institutions throughout the UK, except for medical and dental students in the fifth and subsequent years of study.
Students resident in Scotland and studying in Scottish institutions on honours degree courses that are a year longer than equivalent courses elsewhere in the UK will, however, have their fees paid in the final year of the course by the Scottish Student Awards Agency. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has decided to give special consideration to such students in the light of recommendations from the Dearing and Garrick reports and in recognition that many Scottish students have had only one year's education after statutory schooling before entering university, compared with the two years that students resident elsewhere in the UK have had.