§ Q15. Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Prime Minister what percentage of 18-year-olds are expected to go to universities in autumn 1983 compared with each of the last three years.
§ The Prime MinisterYoung home entrants to university were 7.5 per cent. of the 18-year-old age group in 1980, 7.2 per cent. in 1981, and (provisionally) 6.9 per cent. in 1982. The University Grants Committee's student118W number targets imply a figure of about 6.6 per cent. for 1983. The comparable participation rate for higher education as a whole, however, has increased from 12.7 per cent. in 1980 to a provisional figure of 13.5 per cent. in 1982, and that for the non-university sector of higher education from 5.2 per cent. in 1980 to a provisional figure of 6.6 per cent. in 1982.