§ 29. Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his plans for foundation degrees. [127950]
§ Mr. WicksFollowing the launch of the proposals for the Foundation Degree in February this year, we established a Foundation Degree Group, comprising all the key stakeholders and including significant employer representation. The work of the Group has informed the prospectus inviting bids from consortia to design and develop the prototype Foundation Degree programmes, which will be issued this month by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. We expect the prototype courses to be delivered from autumn 2001 with further expansion taking place gradually.