Quiz: how well do you know your higher education ministers?

The Australian and British higher education ministers, Christopher Pyne and David Willetts, have had a lot to say about each other's policies in 2014. Can you guess the missing word in each quote?

• Higher education policy in the UK and Australia – view our interactive timeline

Willetts and Pyne

Australian universities minister Chrisopher Pyne and UK universities and science minister, David Willetts. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPIMAGE Ray Tang/Rex Features

  1. 1. Christopher Pyne: “About 18% of a HECS [Higher Education Contribution Scheme student loan debt] is never repaid, so about A$1 in A$5 of a HECS debt is never repaid, and the HECS debt at the moment is ***. That's how much the Australian taxpayer has lent students over the last almost two decades. It's an immense number. Most of the people who don't pay it back are people who move overseas, and most of those people who move overseas go to the UK.”

  2. 2. David Willetts: “We are simply setting universities free to respond to the choices of individuals – based on much better information about what is available. We do not want to set an arbitrary target for ***. Nor do we want an equally arbitrary cap on numbers.”

  3. 3. Christopher Pyne: “You [UK] of course are no stranger to this phenomenon of education as an export industry. Your export income from education services was estimated in 2011 to be £17.5bn a year. Worldwide, Australia and Britain have the highest percentage of international students among their tertiary enrolments. Britain is second only to *** in the volume of international higher education.”

  4. 4. David Willetts: “For one university to set up a *** in another country is a big financial and management decision. But if it’s a group of universities and one, for example, sets up the engineering faculty and another the languages faculty and effort and investment is pooled then I can see the ways in which the Australia-UK links are now going to turn to third countries.”

  5. 5. Christopher Pyne: "Our nations have fully mature education sectors with immense capacity and capability. We share a relentless focus on *** and on much needed reform, matters close to the hearts of all in this room."

  6. 6. Christopher Pyne: “Rather than slamming the door closed I’m trying to give more people a chance to get a university degree. *** in Scotland has made zero difference on equity issues. This reform is an equity measure, it is about spreading opportunity.”

  7. 7. David Willetts: “Australia and the UK have a rich history of collaboration on major science projects and we value the relationship between our countries on this important project [the Square Kilometre Array telescope]. Having recently opened the SKA headquarters in Manchester and visited the South African SKA site, I now have a real sense of a truly *** project coming together with the aim of furthering human knowledge.”

  8. 8. Christopher Pyne: “Australia’s oldest universities were largely founded by people educated in the great universities of Britain. Very many Australians have studied in British universities, and significant numbers of British students in Australian universities. More students come to study in Australia from Britain than from any other *** country. In many ways, our universities look to each other, as well as to the US and elsewhere, to develop ideas for the future, including on teaching and learning and on research."

  9. 9. David Willets: “Our higher education reforms mean more *** people will get the chance to go to university and have the quality experience they deserve when they get there.”

About Guardian Professional

  • Guardian Professional Networks

    Guardian Professional Networks are community-focused sites, where we bring together advice, best practice and insight from a wide range of professional communities. Click here for details of all our networks. Some of our specialist hubs within these sites are supported by funding from external companies and organisations. All editorial content is independent of any sponsorship, unless otherwise clearly stated. We make Partner Zones available for sponsors' own content. Guardian Professional is a division of Guardian News & Media.

On this site

;