§ Mr. John Wellsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing which counties have horticultural colleges or substantial horticultural sections in agricultural colleges; how many students have attended each college in each of the most recent five years for which figures are available; and what was the length and nature of the courses offered, together with such information about costs as is readily available.
§ Sir Keith JosephIn November 1983, the latest date for which information is available, courses leading to recognised qualifications in horticulture were provided by 93 further education establishments in England. The following information is readily available for these courses.
For those colleges with 50 or more enrolments in any year the numbers of students participting in the years 1979 to 1983 are in the table. The colleges are shown under their LEA.
Over 80 per cent. of all student enrolments were for courses of the City and Guilds and regional examining boards, other courses included those for OND, HND, national diplomas and certificates in horticulture, college diplomas and the general examination of the Royal Horticultural Society.
It is estimated that 50 per cent. of all student enrolments were for courses of one year's duration. A further 31 per cent. were on the first year of courses lasting two years or more. No information is available about the financial arrangements for specific courses.
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LEA Name of college Year 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Essex Writtle Agricultural College 287 313 46 374 338 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire College of Agriculture 31 29 31 48 88 Hampshire Highbury College of Technology 80 66 80 78 57 Hampshire Hampshire College of Agriculture 152 135 139 192 278 Hereford and Worcester Pershore College of Horticulture 225 235 136 272 315 Hertfordshire Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture 302 337 247 317 330 Humberside Bishop Burton College of Agriculture 122 132 170 124 99 Isle of Wight Isle of Wight College of Arts and Technology 59 53 60 74 49 Kent Mid Kent College of Higher Education and Further Education 75 75 59 64 56 Kent Canterbury College of Technology 81 94 51 82 78 Kent Hadlow College of Agriculture and Horticulture 139 234 163 244 112 Lancashire Lancashire College of Agriculture and Horticulture 185 172 107 267 216 Leicestershire Brooksby Agricultural College 73 94 69 74 86 Lincolnshire Lincolnshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture 59 77 72 69 150 Norfolk Norfolk College of Agriculture and Horticulture 67 97 76 83 91 North Yorkshire Askham Bryan College of Agriculture and Horticulture 297 279 122 293 335 North Yorkshire Bedale Agricultural Centre 60 38 — 40 62 Northamptonshire Northants College of Agriculture 37 49 25 27 89 Northumberland Northumberland College of Agriculture 98 107 107 78 123 Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire College of Agriculture 76 88 67 75 120 Shropshire Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology 20 43 28 18 101 Somerset Somerset College of Agriculture and Horticulture 133 140 86 155 222 Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent Technical College 38 22 9 23 72 Staffordshire Staffordshire College of Agriculture 49 143 25 65 168 Suffolk Chadacre Agricultural Institute 19 93 — — — Suffolk The Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture 82 33 122 177 183 Surrey Merrist Wood Agricultural College 380 379 235 397 454 Warwickshire Warwickshire College of Agriculture — — 9 24 60 West Sussex West Sussex College of Agriculture and Horticulture 63 70 61 60 100 Wiltshire Lackham College of Agriculture 62 79 67 89 89