18 to 19-year-olds

HC Deb 23 July 1985 vol 83 cc509-10W

36. Mr. Powley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of 18 to 19-year-olds in the United Kingdom entered higher education in 1978 and in 1984.

Mr. Brooke

Information is not readily available in the form requested. The Department's usual way of monitoring participation in higher education is the age participation index. This is defined as the number of full-time and sandwich home initial entrants to higher education aged under 21 expressed as a percentage of the average population of 18 and 19-year-olds. Initial entrants are those entering a higher education course for the first time and excludes those entering a second such course. The index for Great Britain in 1978 was 12.3 (excluding entrants to teacher training courses with less than 2 A levels); the provisional estimate for 1984 is 13.7.