§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many higher education places remain unfilled at the start of the academic year. [95725]
§ Mr. WicksStudent number targets are set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) each year covering home and EU students (whether fundable by HEFCE or not) who are on full-time or sandwich courses, or on courses of initial teacher training (ITT). For 1998 these targets were broadly met in aggregate at the sector level. Equivalent figures are not yet available for 1999.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students he estimates are entering higher education in the current year; and if he will make a statement on trends relative to the last three years. [95724]
§ Mr. WicksThe latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that, as at 13 October, the number of UK domiciled applicants accepted for entry to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses was 247,318, which represents an increase of 2 per cent. compared to 1998. Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), which cover both full-time and part-time students, show that undergraduate recruitment has held up over the last three years.