§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement supported by any convenient and relevant statistics about the numerical trend back towards science subjects by students in universities, compared to numbers entering arts faculties, over the 10-year period 1959 to 1969.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe following table, which is based on a broad division of all subjects into science and arts, shows the proportion of full-time students entering courses in science subjects from 1959–60. From 1965–66 it is difficult to make valid comparisons with earlier years because of changes in the basis of the statistics. Figures for 1968–69 are not yet available. A comparison of student numbers by field of study between 1961–62 and 1966–67 is given in Table 5, University Development 1962–67, Cmnd. 3826.
New entrants to courses in science subjects as a percentage of all new entrants to universities in Great Britain Academic Year Per cent. 1959–60 … … … 55.8 1960–61 … … … 55.3 1961–62 … … … 54.9 1962–63 … … … 55.1 1963–64 … … … 54.6 1964–65 … … … 52.3 1965–66 … … … 56.7 1966–67 … … … 56.0 1967–68 … … … 56.0