Clause 23 - Condition that may be required to be imposed by English funding bodies
Higher Education Bill
9:10 am
Mrs Anne Campbell (Cambridge, Labour)
I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks at the beginning of his speech, although they will not do much for my credibility with my student population.
I return to the point made by my hon. Friend about the market. I agree entirely that there is a market at the moment and its currency is A-level grades. I am afraid that the variable fee will introduce another currency in the market, which will be money. Because poorer students tend to be debt averse, they will be the ones
who are affected by the new currency, whereas students from middle-class and richer backgrounds will not be affected, because at the end of the day their parents will probably pay. I should like my hon. Friend to address those points. Intervention in the market is fine, but this intervention will have an impact on the poorer students, not the middle-class students.