§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils have entered secondary school sixth forms to study A-levels(a) in the West Midlands and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years; and what was each figure as a percentage change on the previous year. [45856]
466W
§ Dr. HowellsThe Secretary of State has no plans to review the curricula taught in universities either nationally or in the West Midlands.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what statistics his Department collects on the ratio of students to faculty in universities(a) nationally and (b) in the West Midlands. [46597]
§ Dr. HowellsThe available statistics on enrolments as at 1 December 1997 are analysed by subject of course rather than faculty.
In 1997–98, the latest year for which information is available, the number and proportion of full-time and part-time students by course subject in higher education institutions in the UK and in the West Midlands were as given in the following table:
§ Dr. HowellsThe available information is shown in the table.
Number of 16 year old pupils studying A levels in maintained secondary schools West Midlands and Staffordshire LEA area Position in January each year 1994 1995 1996 1997 19981 West Midlands 11,239 11,061 11,422 12,464 12,440 Percentage change (year on year) — -1.6 3.3 9.1 -0.2 Staffordshire 2,451 2,497 2,586 2,887 23,050 Percentage change (year on year) — 1.9 3.6 11.6 5.6 1Provisional 2Stoke became a unitary authority separate from Staffordshire in April 1997; the provisional figures for Staffordshire (excluding Stoke) and Stoke LEA areas in January 1998 were 2,897 and 153 respectively
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students entered the further education sector to study A-levels(a) in the 467W West Midlands and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years; and what was each figure as a percentage change on the previous year. [45857]
§ Dr. HowellsThe following table contains the available figures on the number of students in the further education sector in England studying A/AS levels, and the percentage change from the previous year.
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 West Midlands Number of students 31,261 30,511 30,670 Percentage change from previous year — -2.40 +0.52 Staffordshire Number of students 5,718 5,533 5,696 Percentage change from previous year — -3.34 +2.85
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to(a) encourage and (b) aid schools to create consortia to provide a range of A-level courses in their area. [45855]
§ Dr. HowellsWe are working with the Local Government Association (LGA), Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and TEC National Council (TNC) to promote greater collaboration in post-16 education. This may include partnerships between schools or between schools, colleges and other parties, building on existing arrangements where appropriate. We expect this collaborative activity to improve the quality of educational opportunities, breadth of curriculum and choice for young people. We support the efforts of existing partnerships, the Tamworth Opportunities Post-16 collaboration being one example.