Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he made an assessment of the implications for Scottish universities of his policy on student number controls announced on 4 May 2020.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I have regular meetings with Scottish ministers, and ministers from all the devolved administrations, about higher education issues. These discussions have included the development of student number controls policy. Departmental officials also have regular meetings and discussions with their counterparts.
Student number controls are a direct response to COVID-19. They are designed to minimise the impact to the financial threat posed by the outbreak and form a key part of the package of measures to stabilise the admissions system. We want to make sure that university places are available to all who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.
These controls are a temporary measure and will be in place for one academic year only. Student number controls for institutions in the devolved administrations only apply to the number of English-domiciled entrants who will be supported with their tuition fees through the Student Loans Company, and are set at a level which will allow every institution to take more first year English students than they took last year. The funding of English-domiciled students is not a devolved matter, and it is right and fair that this policy should apply as consistently as possible wherever they are studying in the UK.
Ministers will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on strengthening and stabilising the higher education system following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he had with the (a) Scottish Government and (b) Scottish Funding Council prior to his announcement of 4 May 2020 that student number controls would be implemented in Scottish universities.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I have regular meetings with Scottish ministers, and ministers from all the devolved administrations, about higher education issues. These discussions have included the development of student number controls policy. Departmental officials also have regular meetings and discussions with their counterparts.
Student number controls are a direct response to COVID-19. They are designed to minimise the impact to the financial threat posed by the outbreak and form a key part of the package of measures to stabilise the admissions system. We want to make sure that university places are available to all who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.
These controls are a temporary measure and will be in place for one academic year only. Student number controls for institutions in the devolved administrations only apply to the number of English-domiciled entrants who will be supported with their tuition fees through the Student Loans Company, and are set at a level which will allow every institution to take more first year English students than they took last year. The funding of English-domiciled students is not a devolved matter, and it is right and fair that this policy should apply as consistently as possible wherever they are studying in the UK.
Ministers will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on strengthening and stabilising the higher education system following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to replace Erasmus after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
As we set out in the UK’s approach to negotiations, we remain open to the UK participating in elements of the Erasmus+ programme, on a time-limited basis, provided the terms are in the UK’s interest.
The specific terms under which the UK could participate in the programme are subject to the future negotiations with the EU, which we hope to conclude as soon as possible.
In parallel with the ongoing negotiations, we continue to develop an alternative domestic scheme as part of preparing for every eventuality.