Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of people taking veterinary degree courses.

The government recognises that higher education institutions (HEIs) have autonomy over which courses to deliver. Therefore, government’s role is to help ensure that the higher education (HE) sector as a whole is responsive to and able to deliver demand for HE provisions. This is achieved through targeted funding which recognises the additional costs that some subjects, such as veterinary science, incur. We are also delivering a series of comprehensive regulatory reforms which are designed to ensure students can access diverse and innovative models of provision, and are able to make choices that best meet their needs and the skills need of employers.

In relation to veterinary science, the Higher Education Statistics Agency recorded a 15% increase in first year enrolments on first degrees at UK HEIs between the academic years 2011/12 and 2015/16. Figures for 2016/17 will be published in January 2018.