TOP-UP FEES AND THE GOVERNMENT'S HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGY

Early day motion 1762, tabled 16 October 2002 by Ian Gibson (Labour). Signed by 136 members.

That this House believes that broadening access to higher education is a social and economic imperative; welcomes the commitment from higher education staff and students to help increase the numbers of students from groups that are currently under represented in universities and colleges, including those from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds; believes that the introduction of top-up fees would severely undermine this policy by creating a two-tier university system; urges the Government to introduce significant maintenance support for those students who need it; believes that once students enter university they are entitled to receive a high quality education and that this will only be achieved if there is significant public investment in higher education ensuring sufficient numbers of fairly paid, well-motivated university staff working with modern teaching, learning and research resources; and urges the Government to include these important issues in its forthcoming 10 year strategy for higher education.

Signatures by party: Labour 83, Liberal Democrat 37, Labour/Co-operative 9, Plaid Cymru 3, UUP 2, Conservative 1, Scottish National Party 1.