HC Deb 04 November 1999 vol 337 cc321-3W
Mr. Hume

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many students are currently enrolled on taught postgraduate courses in higher education institutions in(a) Derry, (b) Belfast, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Glasgow, (e) Manchester and (f) Birmingham; [97049]

(2) what proportions of UK students registered for taught postgraduate courses in computing science in the several higher education institutions located in (a) Derry, (b) Belfast, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Glasgow, (e) Manchester and (f) Birmingham, are paying their own fees. [97050]

Mr. Wicks

The numbers of students enrolled on taught postgraduate courses in institutions in the cities listed are given in the table:

Students enrolled on taught postgraduate courses in HE institutions 1998–99
City Number
Londonderry 727
Belfast1 5,217
Edinburgh 7,558
Glasgow 10,240
Manchester 11,522
Birmingham 8,205

The numbers of UK-domiciled students enrolled on taught postgraduate courses in computing science in institutions in the cities listed, and the proportions of these paying their own fees, are given in the table:

City UK-domiciled students enrolled on taught postgraduate courses in computing science2 in higher education institutions 1998–99 Percentage of students paying their own fees3
Londonderry 195 71
Belfast1 500 61
Edinburgh 367 15
Glasgow 264 19
Manchester 317 27
Birmingham 175 54
1 Including the University of Ulster at Jordanstown
2 Excludes students on PGCE courses, who, irrespective of their specialism, can only be identified as "teacher training" students
3 Excludes students for whom all or any part of their fees are paid from another public or private source, eg their employers

Policy on higher education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Policy on higher education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the Government's latest estimate of the proportion of young people in England entering higher education at the beginning of the academic year 1999–2000 from(a) semi-skilled and (b) unskilled family backgrounds and (c) from disadvantaged localities; and what were the comparable figures for each of the last three years. [97153]

Mr. Wicks

The available data on students accepted for entry through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to higher education in the United Kingdom are given in the table. Information on participation rates of young people from disadvantaged localities is not held centrally.

Accepted young1 home domiciled applicants to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses United Kingdom
Percentage
Year of entry
Proportion from social class2 1996 1997 1998 1999
IIIM—Skilled manual 16.4 16.7 16.9 16.9
IV—Partly skilled 7.5 7.6 7.6 8.7
V—Unskilled 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.1
1 Aged under 21.
2 The classification system used to assign social class to undergraduates is that used in the National Census—the Standard Occupational Classification published by the Office for National Statistics.
3 Accepted applicants as at November 1999.