HC Deb 18 December 1996 vol 287 cc677-8W
20. Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children gained entrance to higher education courses in(a) the current year, (b) 1987 and (c) 1979; and if he will make a statement. [8151]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson

The number of young Scots entering higher education has more than doubled since 1979. The age participation index, a measure of the number of under-2l-year-old entrants as a proportion of the 17-year-old population, stood at 17.8 per cent in 1980–81, 20.5 per cent. in 1987–88 and 42.7 per cent. in 1994–95. Figures for later years are not yet available.