HC Deb 18 January 1999 vol 323 cc348-9W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the Government's plans to monitor the impact of the new student funding system on recruitment to higher education institutions of students studying engineering. [65294]

Mr. Mudie

Initial evidence shows that there is a small decrease of 1.7 per cent. in the total number of people accepted to higher education. This is made up of an increase in school and college leavers and a decrease in mature students.

Although the Department has no mechanisms in place to monitor specific subject areas, it has in place a programme of evaluation work to assess the impact of the new funding arrangements on participation in higher education by different types of student, examining for instance the social background, ethnic group, disability, age and gender of students and subject of study, which will include engineering. This work will draw on data produced by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). In addition, we are commissioning an update of the Student Income and Expenditure Survey which will provide information about the impact of the new arrangements on student finances.

The key results of our monitoring and research will be published and available to Parliament.