Universities: Part-time Students

Baroness Hooper Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I was not aware of the seminar that the noble Baroness mentioned but if she would like to enlighten me on it I would be happy to talk to her outside the Chamber. I fully acknowledge that the number of part-time students in higher education institutions has declined, but as I said, this is a matter that employers have to work with as well. Many employers who were facing challenging economic circumstances were not releasing people to go and study part time. The other point I would make is that the higher education offering has changed as well, and I give the example of Birkbeck College. When I talked to people there, I was interested to note that there is now a higher take-up of evening degree courses which are run on the equivalent of a full-time basis. The actual offering of institutions is changing, and that is having an impact on the figures.

[Baroness Hooper (Con)]

My Lords, what proportion of students studying at our universities are international or overseas students, and what are the Government doing to promote this aspect of our university education system?

[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.