University top up fees

LABOUR CAN'T CLAIM CREDIT FOR CONSERVATIVE POLICY


According to figures from the university admissions service UCAS more than half of first-year students in Welsh universities will be from Wales, while there has been a fall in the number of Welsh students going to English universities.

Welsh students studying at Welsh universities will not have to pay Labour's top-up fees thanks to a Welsh Conservative motion passed in the National Assembly in May 2005.
I welcome the 7.5% increase in the number of Welsh students attending Welsh universities and that for the first time for many years more than 50% of freshers in Wales will be Welsh. Student debt is a major consideration in determining the choice of university.

It is Conservative policy to provide the access to lifelong learning opportunities for everyone who is able to gain the relevant entry qualification to the higher or further education course of their choice, regardless of their financial circumstance.

Education Minister Jane Davidson must be held to account as to why she and all the other Labour Assembly Members voted against the motion not to introduce 'top-up' fees for students residing in Wales attending Welsh universities. Welsh Conservative policy allows parents to encourage and support their children to aspire to higher and further education. All Welsh students applying to study in Wales have the Welsh Conservatives to thank for being spared the full effects of Labour's tax on learning.