Duncan Hames
Main Page: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Mr Willetts
There certainly is growing international competition for students. Higher education is becoming more of a global market. I am confident that British universities, with high standards and no limit on the number of legitimate overseas students, will continue to attract many overseas students.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
Fourteen years ago, the Dearing report identified employers, alongside students and the state, as stakeholders in higher education. What measures will the Minister use to facilitate the contribution of employers to the costs of the higher education that they require of the graduates they recruit?
Mr Willetts
This goes back to an earlier question. Let me make it absolutely clear that one of the proposals in the White Paper is to make it easier for employers and charities to sponsor additional places at university. That is an additional flexibility in the system. Already, 6,000 university places are sponsored by employers in that way. However, it is not our intention that these proposals be abused by people to purchase places at university that they could not achieve on academic merit.