HC Deb 07 July 1986 vol 101 cc44-6W
Mr. Forman

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students in (a) universities and (b) public sector institutions are involved in postgraduate study; and what were the equivalent figures in each year from 1970 to the latest available date.

Mr. Walden

The information is shown in the table:

Postgraduate students
Thousands
Universities Public sector
Academic year beginning Full-time1 Part-time2 3 Full-time1 Part-time
Great Britain England and Wales
1970 42.1 17.7 5.1 7.2
1975 49.8 21.9 9.1 7.9
England
1979 47.6 26.6 10.2 11.0
1980 47.5 28.2 11.0 11.4
1981 46.8 29.0 11.1 12.6
1982 45.4 29.1 9.6 13.1
1983 47.5 29.8 9.9 13.3
1984 48.9 30.6 10.6 14.4
1985* 50.0 11.0 15.6
Notes:
1 Including students from abroad.
2 Including full-time postgraduates on courses of less than 9 months.
3 Including Open University postgraduates.
* Provisional.
† Not available.

Mr. Forman

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students in(a) universities and (b) public sector institutions took up places in higher education directly from school at the age of 18 or 19 years; how many did so via alternative routes such as sandwich courses or mature entry; and what were the equivalent figures in each year from 1970 to the latest available date.

Mr. Walden

The readily available information, shown in the following table, relates to initial entrants aged up to 20 and those aged 21 or more to full-time and sandwich courses in higher education. Information on numbers entering higher education directly from school is not available on a comparable basis.

Initial Entrants to Higher Education in Great Britain
Thousands
Universities Public sector
Young initial entrants under 21 Mature initial entrants 21 + Young initial entrants under 21 Mature initial entrants 21 +
1970* 51.9 n/a 50.7 n/a
1975* 57.5 n/a 49.8 n/a
1979 64.8 9.4 43.2 24.6
1980 66.8 9.0 46.2 24.2
1981 65.6 8.5 54.3 27.6
1982 64.0 7.6 61.0 28.3
1983 61.8 7.4 62.1 29.5
1984 62.7 7.8 63.1 29.2
1985† 62.5 8.0 62.1 31.2
* Due to a minor change in definition the figures for full-time students in 1970 and 1975 are not strictly comparable with those for later years.
† Provisional.

n/a = Not available.

Mr. Radice

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the level of public spending on higher education in cash and constant 1985–86 prices in each of the following years 1974, 1979 and 1985.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

Estimated public expenditure on higher education, including expenditure on student awards, for which I have responsibility has been as follows:

£ million
Financial years Cash* 1985–86 real terms†
1974–75 779 2,629
1979–80 1,970 3,175
1985–86‡ 3,139 3,139

Thousands
Academic year
1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85
Total leavers 15.13 15.36 16.36 15.13 15.49
Number attempting O-level or CSE in
Any subject 14.08 14.59 15.36 14.36 14.34
English 13.39 14.03 14.68 13.53 13.61
Mathematics 12.56 13.08 13.51 12.72 12.73
Physics 4.71 5.43 6.43 5.86 5.80
Chemistry 3.62 4.24 5.03 4.58 4.59
Biology 7.10 7.65 7.74 7.10 7.03
Craft, design, technology and other science 6.29 6.33 6.46 6.51 6.53
French 6.21 7.01 7.01 6.24 6.05
History 6.82 6.95 7.57 6.72 6.63
Geography 7.16 7.64 8.04 7.31 7.12
Creative arts 5.56 5.85 6.17 5.81 5.77
Commercial & domestic studies 5.26 5.31 5.46 4.89 5.38
Number achieving higher grade* O-level or CSE passes in
Any subject 8.98 9.65 9.89 9.47 9.22
English 6.74 7.28 7.42 6.96 6.84
Mathematics 4.43 4.96 5.18 5.22 4.86
Physics 2.01 2.19 2.58 2.58 2.53
Chemistry 1.65 1.89 2.26 2.17 2.17
Biology 2.90 2.99 3.14 2.83 2.50
Craft, design, technology and other science 2.18 2.17 1.94 2.04 1.89

* Relates to universities in Great Britain, public sector higher education in England and student awards in England and Wales
† Applying the GDP (market prices) deflator.
‡ Based on estimated outturn.