Previous Section Index Home Page

25 Feb 2008 : Column 1312W—continued


International students bring an international perspective to our campuses, they help maintain the UK's world class research base, and they provide a valuable source of income for our universities and indeed for the economy more widely. The "Global Value" report published by the British Council in September estimated that the total value of international HE students to the UK economy was in the region of £5 billion per year.

The growth in international students is not at the expense of home and EU students. Student numbers from those domiciled in the UK and the EU have also grown. There is no question of UK students being squeezed out of the market by international students. International students are recruited in addition to the home (UK and other EU) students, whose places are subsidised by the Higher Education Funding Councils. International students pay the full cost of their tuition.

Students: Finance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what activities were recently undertaken as part of Student Finance week; and what the cost was of each. [169728]

Bill Rammell: The information is as follows.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will ensure that the Higher Education and Funding Council for England provides funding for students seeking postgraduate training in health, education, local government, food safety and hydrology. [173202]


25 Feb 2008 : Column 1313W

Bill Rammell: We have no plans to change arrangements for funding of postgraduate provision, except in those cases where a student already has a postgraduate qualification at an equivalent or higher level than the one for which he or she proposes to study. For such students, funding will be available for students on courses which are co-funded by employers, including those in the public sector as well as the private sector. That is and will be our priority as we respond to the challenges identified by Sandy Leitch.

Students: Loans

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people continued to make payments to the Student Loan Company (SLC) after their incomes had dropped below the repayment threshold in each year since the SLC was established; what the mean number of months for which student loan deductions continued after the repayer ceased to be eligible to repay was in these cases; how many individuals received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five or more repayments subsequent to their becoming ineligible; what the (i) median and (ii) mean amount repaid in total to each individual was; and what the mean size was of the individual rebates made as a consequence. [166888]

Bill Rammell: Neither the Department nor the Student Loans Company (SLC) hold the information requested.

For borrowers covered by the UK tax system, income-contingent loan repayments (deductions) are taken by the employer and passed to HMRC, on a weekly or monthly basis if the borrower's income exceeds the relevant threshold. If a deduction is taken in error when income does not exceed the threshold then the relevant deductions are refunded by the employer. The SLC does not hold information about these deductions.

However, in some cases a borrower's income for the year may be less than the threshold overall, but their earnings above the threshold in one or more pay periods. Such situations only become clear at the end of the financial year and the borrower may claim a refund from the SLC. (Note that such borrowers had deductions taken correctly when they were above the earnings threshold in the relevant pay period.) Available data on such refunds are shown in the following tables.

Number of SLC refunds to income-contingent loan borrowers below the earnings threshold at the end of the year, England
Calendar year Number of refunds( 1)

2003

50

2004

110

2005

190

2006

310

2007 (to 10 October)

310

(1) Number of loans rounded to nearest 10
Source:
Student Loans Company

25 Feb 2008 : Column 1314W

Number of income-contingent loan borrowers( 1) who received SLC refunds because they were below the earnings threshold at the end of the year, by numbers of refunds, England
Number of refunds

One

730

Two

90

Three

20

Four or more

10

Total

840

(1) Refunds up to 10 Oct 2007. Number of borrowers rounded to nearest 10.
Source:
Student Loans Company

The mean amount of SLC refund was 130.

Borrowers with the older mortgage-style loans can apply for deferment of repayments if their income is below the relevant threshold. The SLC holds income details only for those mortgage-style loans borrowers who apply for a deferment. Some borrowers may wish to continue repayment rather than apply for deferment. Indeed borrowers threshold overall, but their earnings above the threshold in one or more pay periods.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many Access to Learning Loans were paid because of delays in the student loans system in each year since 2001. [175746]

Bill Rammell: The information is not available.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether he plans to sell off student loans accrued by non-UK EU citizens as part of the sale of the student loan book. [187237]

Bill Rammell: We envisage that the sale of student loans will be a long-term programme, and in principle loans to non-UK EU citizens could be included in due course . However, tuition fee loans have only been available to non-UK EU citizens since the academic year 2006-07, and the first graduates will not enter repayment until 2010, so we do not expect such loans to be included within the first sales during 2008-09.

Students: Qualifications

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills by what means he intends to verify that students from (a) other EU member states, (b) England and Wales and (c) non-EU countries do not have a graduate qualification when applying for equivalent or lower qualification courses. [173199]

Bill Rammell: Overseas students from non-EU and associated countries have not received public funding for over 25 years irrespective of the course qualifications they study. For other students, HEFCE will shortly be advising on the way this is dealt with. Most people will and do obey the rules, but there will need to be a random checking process to corroborate that particular students do not have a first HE qualification. That will need to be done in a way that gets the balance right between protection and not an overly bureaucratic system. In all cases HEFCE will work with institutions to audit feasible student
25 Feb 2008 : Column 1315W
numbers and final HEFCE funding will be determined on a basis of audited returns through a robust audit process.

Teachers: Training

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of entrants to (a) primary and (b) secondary school teacher training courses were (i) male and (ii) female in
25 Feb 2008 : Column 1316W
each year since 1997, broken down by subject for secondary school trainees. [185689]

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.

The following tables show the proportion of first year trainees, at the end of the first year of their Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course, who are male and female for:

Table 1: Mainstream( 1,2,3,4,5) first year trainees
Percentage
1998/99 1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male

Primary and secondary

74

26

74

26

75

25

75

25

Primary

87

13

87

13

87

13

88

12

Secondary

63

37

63

37

64

36

64

36

Art and design

75

25

76

24

79

21

80

20

Business studies

53

47

56

44

60

40

59

41

Citizenship(6,7)

61

39

Design and technology

49

51

51

49

53

47

55

45

English (including drama and dance)

76

24

76

24

79

21

79

21

Geography

55

45

55

45

56

44

57

43

History

55

45

56

44

57

43

57

43

Information and communications technology

51

49

49

51

55

45

52

48

Mathematics

50

50

51

49

50

50

50

50

Modern languages

82

18

81

19

81

19

80

20

Music

60

40

65

35

64

36

62

38

Other(8)

59

41

55

45

61

39

65

35

Physical education

53

47

56

44

53

47

52

48

Religious education

68

32

66

34

65

35

72

28

Science

59

41

59

41

62

38

59

41

Vocational subjects(7)


Next Section Index Home Page