§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many unfilled places there were within the higher education sector in(a) autumn 1997, (b) autumn 1998, (c) autumn 1099 and (d) autumn 2000. [147637]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 30 January 2001]: Planned student numbers are set out each year covering home and EU students funded by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). The table shows the total student numbers (full-time equivalents) planned for HEFCE and TTA prior to the academic year in question, and the comparable estimated outturn for each year. Equivalent figures for Autumn 2000 42W are not yet available. The growth in financial year FTEs between 1996–97 and 1999–2000 was 34,000. The total number of home, EU and overseas students in English institutions (headcounts on 1 December) rose by 76,000 between 1996–97 and 1999–2000.
Home and EU domiciled Higher Education students in England. Thousand1 Academic year Planned FTEs Estimated Outturn FTEs 1996–97 1,001 1,009 — 1997–98 999 1,024 — 1998–99 1,021 1,024 — 1999–2000 1,043 1,037 — 1 Figures relate to 1 December. The FTE factor used for part-time students is 0.35. For comparability, figures include some students studying professions allied to medicine for which funding responsibility was transferred to the Department of Health for 1998–99 and exclude 18,500 FTEs in 1999–2000 in further education colleges for which funding responsibility transferred to the Higher Education Funding Council in England in 1999–2000. UCAS data show that accepted applicants for full-time undergraduate courses rose by 5,000 between 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Early data on applications for 2001–02 show an increase of 2,000 applicants over 2000–01.