To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills by what means he intends to verify that students from (a) other EU member states, (b) England and Wales and (c) non-EU countries do not have a graduate qualification when applying for equivalent or lower qualification courses. (173199)

Overseas students from non-EU and associated countries have not received public funding for over 25 years irrespective of the course qualifications they study. For other students, HEFCE will shortly be advising on the way this is dealt with. Most people will and do obey the rules, but there will need to be a random checking process to corroborate that particular students do not have a first HE qualification. That will need to be done in a way that gets the balance right between protection and not an overly bureaucratic system. In all cases HEFCE will work with institutions to audit feasible student numbers and final HEFCE funding will be determined on a basis of audited returns through a robust audit process.