HL Deb 08 July 1981 vol 422 cc813-4WA
Lord Kilmarnock

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their best estimate of the number of young people between the minimum school-leaving age and their nineteenth birthday in the United Kingdom on 1st June 1981 (or on the nearest convenient earlier date); and how many of these were

  1. (i) in higher education funded by the University Grants Committee;
  2. (ii) in higher education otherwise funded;
  3. (iii) on Youth Opportunities Programmes;
  4. (iv) in Community Industry jobs;
  5. (v) in other full-time employment without education or training provision;
  6. (vi) in employment with provision for part-time education and/or training;
  7. (vii) in full-time non-advanced further education showing
    1. (a) the number in schools,
    2. (b) the number in 6th form or tertiary colleges,
    3. (c) the number in colleges of Further Education and
    4. (d) the number in other institutions; and
  8. (viii) Unemployed.

The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Baroness Young)

Information is not yet available for 1981. It is estimated that in the academic year 1979–80 there were 2,393,000 young people aged 16, 17, 18 in England and Wales. The estimated breakdown of this number is as follows:

000s
On advanced courses(1) in
Universities 33
Other colleges 40
On Youth Opportunity Programmes 70
In Community Industry jobs(2) 6
Other full-time employment without(3) part-time day education or training 1,135
Employed with day study(4) 326
Schools—sixth form colleges 49
other schools 330
Full-time non-advanced education—tertiary colleges 14
—other f.e. colleges 205
Unemployed 185

  1. (1) Includes part-time advanced.
  2. (2) Estimate.
  3. (3) Includes 449,000 attending evening classes.
  4. (4) Includes 23,000 without day release.

Lord Kilmarnock

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many 16–19 year olds (as commonly defined) are now studying for (i) CSEs; (ii) O-levels; (iii) A-levels; and (iv) vocational qualifications, showing for each group the numbers studying full-time and part-time, and within part-time students, those employed on Youth Opportunities Programmes and unemployed.

Baroness Young

Information is not available in exactly the form requested. During the academic year 1979–80, 142,000 young people aged 16, 17 and 18 were known to be involved in education in both school and college, either full-time or part-time (including evening) in England and Wales. Information on the type of course followed is given in the table below:—

TYPE OF COURSE
000s
All A level O level CSE(1) Other vocational(3) Un-specified
Full-time students 638 346 92 147 53
Part-time(2) students: 774 19 45 293 417
Of which in employment with part-time day release 326 5 9 281 31

  1. (1) Mainly O level.
  2. (2) Including evening classes.
  3. (3) Specified courses.

No information is available about the numbers of part-time students who are registered as unemployed. Some 40 per cent. of the 70,000 on Youth Opportunities Programmes received "off the job training" equally divided between day release at college and other forms of training. However, a division by type of course followed by those at college is not readily available.