§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places there are for students of veterinary medicine in each university providing such courses; how many students currently studying on such courses are from(a) the United Kingdom, (b) the EU and (c) overseas; what estimate he has made of the number of graduates in veterinary science required in the United Kingdom in each of the next four years; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which adequate numbers of veterinary surgeons will qualify in each of the next four years to meet demand. [44558]
§ Dr. HowellsThe number of students on first degree veterinary medicine courses in the UK for 1997–98 is given in the table.
Home EU Overseas Total Nene College 7 1 0 8 The University of Bristol 333 1 22 356 The University of Cambridge 373 9 2 384 The University of Liverpool 339 8 70 417 The Royal Veterinary College 458 6 62 526 University of Edinburgh 381 15 49 445 University of Glasgow 372 9 28 409 Total 2,263 49 233 2,545 The Government do not assess requirements for veterinary student places. Under the current funding arrangements, institutions are free to respond to market
704Wforces when deciding which courses they will offer and how many students they will enrol on each programme. However, the Royal College of Veterinary Students, the British Veterinary Association and the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons are jointly conducting a survey of the manpower requirements of the profession, the results of which are expected soon.