HC Deb 15 May 1980 vol 984 c566W
Mr. Field

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the number of (a) boys and (b) girls attending university for each year since 1945.

Mr. Mark Carlisle

The number of men and women students at universities in Great Britain on full-time undergraduate courses for the academic years 1953–54 to 1966–67 is published in table 1 of Statistics of Education, Volume 6 1966 edition. Corresponding information for academic years 1965–66 to 1976–77 is published in table 2 of the 1976 edition. These volumes are available in the Library. Information for the academic year 1945–46 is not available and for 1946–47 to 1952–53, and 1977–78 to 1979–80 is as follows:

Men Women
1946–47 45,951 18,009
1947–48 54,134 18,568
1948–49 58,733 18,505
1949–50 59,680 18,384
1950–51 56,846 17,141
1951–52 54,767 17,147
1952–53 52,601 17,216
1977–78 148,107 83,547
1978–79 151,079 88,114
1979–80 (provisional) 152,700 93,100