§ Dr. HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if it is his policy to ensure that student contributions towards tuition fees should rise in line with inflation. [159814]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 1 May 2001]: The maximum level of student contributions to tuition fees for students at publicly funded institutions is uprated each year to take account of inflation. In the next academic year it will be £1,075. How much students actually pay depends on an assessment of their income. Currently, over 40 per cent. of students make no contribution to their tuition fees and that figure will rise to around 50 per cent. from this September because we have raised the contribution thresholds above the level of inflation. We estimate that from September the average contribution made by students will be just £1,400 over the whole of a three-year course.