§ Tom CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of full-time students resident in the London borough of Wandsworth stayed in education after the age of(a) 16 and (b) 18 years in each of the last three years. [184118]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisFor Inner London, participation in education and training is only shown as a total because participation estimates for individual Inner London LEAs cannot be estimated reliably. This is due to considerable numbers of pupils who attend independent schools in an LEA other than the one in which they reside and residence information for independent school pupils is not available. The percentage of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education in Inner London at end 2001 (the latest available year) was 73 per cent.
There are also figures published for local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) areas, which cover Inner London. These will be affected by the cross-boundary movement, though to a lesser ex tent due to their larger size. The London Central LSC area includes Wandsworth LEA. The percentage of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education in London Central LSC area at end 2001 (the latest available year) was 74 per cent.
These figures are taken from the Statistical Bulletin 01/2004 and have been produced using post-Census population estimates. Historic population estimates are not currently available on a comparable basis; and therefore, comparable participation rates for earlier years prior to 2001 cannot be produced.
The percentages of 18-year-olds participating in full-time undergraduate courses in Wandsworth LEA for the last three years are given in Table 1. The higher education (HE) figures show the proportion of students who gain places in HE courses at age 18, and so will not include those who enter at 19 or over.
Table 1: Proportion of English domiciled students aged 18 accepted through UCAS to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK, by LEA of domicile As at autumn Percentage 2001 23.9 2002 23.6 2003 23.4