HC Deb 08 December 1992 vol 215 cc560-1W
Mr. Adley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the rate for the numbers of higher education in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

Mr. Forman

The readily available figures are shown in the table.

New entrants1 to higher education, 1988
Country Participation rate2
(percentage)
United Kingdom3 37
United Kingdom3 1989 41
Australia4 57
Belgium5 49
Canada5'6 59
Denmark 48
France 44
Germany (Federal Republic) 32
Italy5 27
Japan7 (a) 37
(b) 52
Netherlands5'8 36
Spain5 35
Sweden9 47
United States of America10 (a) 65
(b) 33

Sources: Education Statistics for the United Kingdom, Table CC (1992 edition draft).

1Includes full-time and part-time students entering higher education for the first time i.e. excluding postgraduate students and others already having a qualification in higher education. Not all other countries may adhere to this general definition.

2To aid comparison and overcome the problem of the varying lengths of courses in different countries the participation rate is the percentage of all new entrants (defined above) to a derived relevant single year group. The latter is calculated by taking the total populations for the ages providing at least 70 per cent. of the new entrants and dividing by the number of ages involved. For the United Kingdom this is the population of ages 18 to 21 divided by 4. OECD recommend this procedure.

3Excludes the private sector and students from abroad. Includes nursing and paramedical students at Health Department establishments.

4Excludes Technical and Further Education (TAFE).

51986 data for Canada, 1987 for Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

6Provisional.

7The (b) rate shown includes data for advanced special training schools (SENSHU's) which may be equivalent to sub-degree higher education.

8Full-time only and excludes Open University.

9Excluding one-year courses, which may be below level 5.

10The (b) rate excludes students on two-year courses, some of which may not be equivalent to sub-degree higher education.