§ 18. Dr. HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of tuition fees on applications for higher education from mature students. [81533]
§ Mr. MudieThe latest figures we have from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that the introduction of tuition fees had no negative effect on the total number of mature entrants to higher education in 1998. These figures show that an increasing number of mature students opt to enter higher education via part-time courses.