§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to those other non-Communist countries which operate a university similar in operation to that of the Open University; and if he will give the year in which each of these foreign universities were incorporated.
§ Mr. BrookeThe following is a list of those institutions of which the Government are aware.
Country Name of institution Year of incorporation South Africa University of South Africa 1964
Percentage of acceptances classified by social class Social Class 1981 1982 1983 I Professional, etc. occupations 24.5 23.9 23.5 II Intermediate occupations 48.9 49.6 48.4 IIIN Skilled occupations—non-manual 9.1 9.1 8.7 IIIM Skilled occupations—manual 12.3 12.2 12.4 IV Partly skilled occupations 4.2 4.9 6.0 V Unskilled occupations 1.0 0.9 1.1 Total (numbers) 67,186 65,476 62,984 Not classified 7,328 7,158 6,647 The University of Buckingham and the Open University are outside the UCCA scheme as are some candidates to some Scottish universities.
The Open University does not use social class in its statistics. The available information by occupations of the students—not their parents—is as follows:
144W
Open University students on undergraduates courses 1982 1983 1984 Total Numbers of which the following percentages apply 63,119 66,403 66,763 Armed Forces 3.1 3.1 3.0 Administrators and Managers 4.4 4.3 4.2 Teachers and Lecturers 21.0 18.3 17.4 The Professions and the Arts 10.5 10.6 10.5 Qualified Scientists and Engineers 3.8 3.8 3.7 Technical Personnel, including data processing, draughtsmen and technicians 12.8 12.9 13.0 Electrical, Electronic, Metal and Machines, Engineering and Allied Trades 3.3 3.3 3.5
Country Name of institution Year of incorporation Spain Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia 1972 West Germany Fern Universitat 1974 Israel Everyman's University 1974 Pakistan Allama Iqbal Open University 1974 Canada Athabasca University 1975 Venezuela Universidad Nacional Abierta 1977 Costa Rica Universidad Estatal Distancia 1977 Thailand Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University 1978 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Open University 1981 The Netherlands Open Universiteit 1981 Denmark Open University of Jutland 1982 South Korea Korea Correspondence University 1982
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give a breakdown of (a) Open University and, (b) all other university undergraduates by Registrar General's social class definitions for each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. BrookeThe distribution by parents' social class of home candidates accepted by universities in the United Kingdom through the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA) in 1981, 1982 and 1983 were as follows:
1982 1983 1984 Farming, Mining, Construction and other Manufacturing 2.2 2.3 2.2 Communications and Transport 1.8 1.9 1.8 Clerical and Office Staff 10.6 10.7 10.8 Shopkeepers, Sales, Services, Sport and Recreation Workers, Fire Brigade and Police 4.4 4.6 4.5 Housewives 17.1 17.3 17.2 Retired, Independent means, not working (other than housewives), Students 4.0 5.7 6.3 In Institutions, e.g. prison, chronic sick, etc. 0.4 0.4 0.4 No information 0.5 0.8 1.5
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those institutions in Cheshire currently used by the Open University as study centres; and how many Open University students attended each of those centres in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. BrookeThe information requested is as follows:
145W
Number of finally registered students in 1984 Open University Study Centres Location Numbers South Trafford College of Further Education Altringham 336 Chester College of Further Education Chester 459 Crewe and Alsager College Crewe 220 Macclesfield College of Further Education Macclesfield 209 Hartford High School Northwich 147 Stockport College of Technology Stockport 322 North Cheshire College Warrington 337 2,030
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give a breakdown by region of the numbers of study centres used by the Open University in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. BrookeThe information requested is as follows:
The number of study centres used by the Open University Region January 1982 January 1983 January 1984 London 23 23 22 South 26 26 26 South West 17 17 17 West Midlands 20 20 20 East Midlands 21 23 22 East Anglia 21 21 21 Yorkshire 20 18 18 North West 21 21 21 North 17 18 17 Wales 19 19 18 Scotland 23 23 22 Northern Ireland 9 9 9 South East 19 20 20 Total 256 258 253