HC Deb 27 October 1992 vol 212 cc546-7W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many assisted places remained unfilled in 1992 in each standard region.

Mr. Forth

At the end of the academic year 1991–92, the numbers of assisted places available, the numbers taken up and the numbers unfilled in each region are as shown in the table:

Assisted places
Region Available Taken-up Vacant
North-east 1,477 873 604
North-west 7,214 6,408 806
Yorkshire and Humberside 2,267 1,794 473
East Midlands 2,063 1,846 217
West Midlands 3,146 2,721 425
East Anglia 1,578 1,340 238
South-west 3,580 3,246 334
South-east 5,873 4,403 1,470
Greater London 6,114 5,010 1,104

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total number of assisted places; and how it has increased since the inception of the scheme.

Mr. Forth

The total number of assisted places available and the total number taken up since the scheme's inception in 1981 are given in the table:

Academic Year Places Available Places Taken Up
1981–82 5,446 4,185
1982–83 11,058 8,616
1983–84 15,866 13,102
1984–85 20,699 17,386
1985–86 25,210 21,412
1986–87 29,295 24,478
1987–88 33,228 26,899
1988–89 33,217 27,083
1989–90 33,280 27,008
1990–91 33,302 26,740
1991–92 33,312 27,641
The figures are for England only