Tuition fees 'don't deter students'

Fewer mature students are entering university

Students are not being put off higher education by tuition fees, says Education Minister Baroness Blackstone - after official statistics showed an increase in student numbers.

The minister welcomed figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency which showed a year-on year rise of 1% in the overall numbers of students beginning courses in 1999-2000.

In particular, the number of UK-based young people entering university has increased by 2.7%.

The final figure for admissions showed 1,757,200 beginning university this year - but the overall increase conceals a continuing decrease in the number of mature students entering for full-time university courses.

There have been accusations that this drop in mature students has been caused by the increased expense of tuition fees - but the minister claimed that it reflected a trend away from full-time courses to more flexible forms of study.

Steady rise .. and fall

"The evidence continues to show that students are not being deterred from going into higher education by the new student support arrangements we have put in place," said the minister.

She put the fall in the number of mature students choosing full- time undergraduate courses as part of the "trend stretching back several years". It "broadly matches the increase in those choosing part-time courses", she said.

The minister said the government had recently announced additional financial support to encourage more mature students to study, especially those with children.

"We want more students from this group to enjoy the benefits of higher education," she added.