Higher Education: Funding and Student Finance

Lord Willis of Knaresborough Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

I think the answer is no; I do not think that we have. I am sorry but I do not think that I can answer that at the moment.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

Will my honourable friend the Minister answer a very simple question? I am sorry, I should have said, “my noble friend”. I apologise for that; I am very new to this place. The Government have confirmed today that new providers will come into the higher education market. She also confirmed that universities will be able to expand their student numbers according to demand. However, she said nothing about whether there will be an overall cap on the number of students. Unless there is a balance between the overall number of students going into the system and the resources which the Government are to make available in terms of loans and grants, the whole system is likely to collapse. Will the Minister say something about the total number of students that the Government will allow to enter higher education?

[Baroness Wilcox]

I am told that we are going to consult on this in the White Paper. Browne recommends allowing student numbers to grow. The current package should enable student numbers to be broadly maintained. However, we do not believe that we should set unsustainable targets for growing HE student numbers. This risks perpetuating the idea that the only positive option for an 18 year-old is a three-year academic course at university. We think that we should be concentrating more on breaking down barriers between academic and vocational education so that an apprenticeship and various other courses are considered as valid as a degree. As I say, we will consult on this in the White Paper.