asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many overseas students from (a) Commonwealth and (b) non-Commonwealth countries are included in the revised figure of 640,000 higher education students for the year 1981; and how this compares with the breakdown of the previous figure of 750,000.

In planning higher education numbers for 1981 allowance is made for overseas students as a whole but there is no differentiation between those from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries. Nearly half of these students are following postgraduate courses, mainly in universities, and places required for overseas students as a whole within the 640,000 higher education total cannot be estimated until I have completed the discussions with universities and maintained institutions described in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford (Mr. Luard) on 25th November 1974.