Universities: Part-time Students

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

As my noble friend will be aware, the Government do not offer loans for university tuition to international students. I acknowledge that we have seen a decline in the number of international students coming to the UK as compared with some of our other European partners. The Government are making it clear through the reforms we are making in higher education—such as the opening-up of caps on university admissions—that the UK is open for business to anyone who wishes to come here to study on an accredited basis at an accredited institution. The Government take this most seriously.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

I am sure that the noble Lord will have read the CBI report, Tomorrow’s Growth: New Routes to Higher Skills. Does he agree with the CBI’s conclusion that relying on traditional university courses alone will not meet the growing demand for degree-level technical skills in key sectors such as manufacturing, construction, IT and engineering? What will the Government do to deliver on the CBI’s obviously very sensible call?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord makes an important point. As I said, higher education has to reflect the needs of the economy and, indeed, the needs of employers. I was therefore delighted that my right honourable friend the Chancellor very recently announced, on 7 May—as I am sure the noble Lord will recall—the new industry campaign “Your Life”, under which leading organisations including Google, Microsoft, BP, BSkyB, Airbus, IBM and Nestlé, to name but a few, have created 2,000 new entry-level positions which cover both apprenticeships and graduate-level posts. I am delighted to inform the House that 170 businesses have now signed up to this initiative.