To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many students have undertaken a six year programme consisting of a foundation year followed by a five year programme of medical studies leading to a degree in medicine in each of the last 20 years; how many...

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many students have undertaken a six year programme consisting of a foundation year followed by a five year programme of medical studies leading to a degree in medicine in each of the last 20 years; how many...

(2) what the drop-out rate of students commencing a (a) five year and (b) six year course leading to a degree in medicine is; and what the drop-out rate in such courses was in each medical school in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr Clappison:

(2) what the drop-out rate of students commencing a (a) five year and (b) six year course leading to a degree in medicine is; and what the drop-out rate in such courses was in each medical school in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr Clappison:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students entered medical school without any (a) A-level grades and (b) A grades in comparable qualifications in the latest year for which figures are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students entered medical school without any (a) A-level grades and (b) A grades in comparable qualifications in the latest year for which figures are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many student loans have been taken out by (a) UK students and (b) EU students in each year since the inception of student loans for tuition fees; how many students have made any repayments on the loans taken...

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many student loans have been taken out by (a) UK students and (b) EU students in each year since the inception of student loans for tuition fees; how many students have made any repayments on the loans taken...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—I hope I will not take that long.

It is always a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown), who is a great champion of the north-east. Both he and the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood), who...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—I hope I will not take that long.

It is always a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown), who is a great champion of the north-east. Both he and the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood), who...

I will give way to my hon. Friend, because I get an extra minute if I do so.

I will give way to my hon. Friend, because I get an extra minute if I do so.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. I have written to the Minister about this, and I look forward to hearing his interpretation of the remarks of the distinguished gentlemen placed in charge of OFFA. I hope that the Minister will answer that in his winding-up speech.

Ministers...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. I have written to the Minister about this, and I look forward to hearing his interpretation of the remarks of the distinguished gentlemen placed in charge of OFFA. I hope that the Minister will answer that in his winding-up speech.

Ministers...

I will later, if I have time. I think I have used up my extra minutes already, although I know that the right hon. Gentleman is very interested in this subject.

Although I disagree with OFFA in principle, I pay tribute to its outgoing head, Sir Martin Harris, who is a...

I will later, if I have time. I think I have used up my extra minutes already, although I know that the right hon. Gentleman is very interested in this subject.

Although I disagree with OFFA in principle, I pay tribute to its outgoing head, Sir Martin Harris, who is a...

That is like the small print of a contract. I have seen the advice to OFFA and what is said on its website. I do not know whether my right hon. Friend, through that intervention, sought to withdraw the injunction given to OFFA last year—[Interruption]—the right hon. Member for Bermondsey...

That is like the small print of a contract. I have seen the advice to OFFA and what is said on its website. I do not know whether my right hon. Friend, through that intervention, sought to withdraw the injunction given to OFFA last year—[Interruption]—the right hon. Member for Bermondsey...

That sharper focus was the clear message in the guidance. If my right hon. Friend is prepared to withdraw that, I will happily give way to him.

That sharper focus was the clear message in the guidance. If my right hon. Friend is prepared to withdraw that, I will happily give way to him.

I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could therefore clarify—perhaps I will leave it to the wind-up, because I am intervening in my own speech now—what else “outcomes” can mean other than admissions. That is the only way one can look at it in this context. My right...

I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could therefore clarify—perhaps I will leave it to the wind-up, because I am intervening in my own speech now—what else “outcomes” can mean other than admissions. That is the only way one can look at it in this context. My right...

I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said today on the Floor of the House and, especially, what he has said on institutional autonomy over admissions. Will he say a little about how that is to be guaranteed? Does he agree that it is academics who should determine admissions...

I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said today on the Floor of the House and, especially, what he has said on institutional autonomy over admissions. Will he say a little about how that is to be guaranteed? Does he agree that it is academics who should determine admissions...

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect on the relative propensity of students to apply to universities charging higher level tuition fees of (i) outreach projects and (ii) paying an additional £900 in fees...

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect on the relative propensity of students to apply to universities charging higher level tuition fees of (i) outreach projects and (ii) paying an additional £900 in fees...

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the advice given by the Office for Fair Access to universities on the provision of bursaries or other financial assistance to students from lower income families.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the advice given by the Office for Fair Access to universities on the provision of bursaries or other financial assistance to students from lower income families.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) levels of family income and (b) other criteria will determine whether students are eligible for bursaries or other financial assistance under the plans set out by the Director General of the Office for Fair Access.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) levels of family income and (b) other criteria will determine whether students are eligible for bursaries or other financial assistance under the plans set out by the Director General of the Office for Fair Access.

Westminster Hall adjournment debate on university admission outcomes.

Westminster Hall adjournment debate on university admission outcomes.

That happily brings me to my next point. I imagine that the Minister will say, in his fair way, exactly what he said to the Daily Mail a few months ago. I am sure he will be anxious to reassure us that the Government intend universities to be free to...

That happily brings me to my next point. I imagine that the Minister will say, in his fair way, exactly what he said to the Daily Mail a few months ago. I am sure he will be anxious to reassure us that the Government intend universities to be free to...

The right hon. Gentleman raises many points, and I will try to deal with some of them as I go along. I would like to see as many applications as possible to a wide range of institutions. The students who apply to universities must be selected on merit, and the...

The right hon. Gentleman raises many points, and I will try to deal with some of them as I go along. I would like to see as many applications as possible to a wide range of institutions. The students who apply to universities must be selected on merit, and the...

I welcome a greater number of applications from all sectors to our most prestigious universities, and the right hon. Gentleman's intervention was timely. I pay tribute to the work of the universities, including Oxford and Cambridge universities. In debates such as this, attention often focuses on those two universities, as...

I welcome a greater number of applications from all sectors to our most prestigious universities, and the right hon. Gentleman's intervention was timely. I pay tribute to the work of the universities, including Oxford and Cambridge universities. In debates such as this, attention often focuses on those two universities, as...