§ Mr. DunnTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in theOfficial Report, the number of children from blue collar worker families as a percentage of the whole, who gained entry to (a) universities and (b) polytechnics in each year from 1970 to date.
Mr. JacksonIt is estimated the number of university entrants from social classes IIIm, IV and V as a percentage of the relevant working class population was 3 per cent. in each of the years from 1970 to date.
Similar information is not collected by the polytechnic central admissions system, but a sample survey of young people attempting examinations qualifying them for higher education entry in 1985 indicated that about 7 per cent. of the relevant working-class population entered some form of higher education including sub-degree courses. A sample survey of 21-year-olds in 1962 indicated that the equivalent percentage then was 3 per cent.