HC Deb 23 June 2000 vol 352 cc329-30W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils on assisted places at independent schools have obtained places at(a) Oxford University, (b) Cambridge University, (c) universities which are members of the Russell Group and (d) other universities, in each year for the last five years; and, in each case, what proportion this number represented of all pupils obtaining places at those institutions. [125303]

Mr. Wicks

[holding answer 9 June 2000]The information requested on pupils on assisted places is not centrally available.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of candidates obtaining places at(a) Oxford University, (b) Cambridge University and (c) universities which are members of the Russell Group came from (i) grant-maintained and former grant-maintained schools and (ii) grammar schools in each of the last five years. [125304]

Mr. Wicks

[holding answer 9 June 2000]The available information is given in the following table, based on students gaining places on full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses through UCAS. Because of a change in classification of school types in UCAS statistics in 1998, comparative figures for Grant-Maintained schools and grammar schools are not available for earlier years.

UCAS UK-domiciled acceptances to higher education institutions by previous education establishment Accepted applicants
Percentage
Year of entry
Institution/school type1 1998 1999
Oxford
Grant Maintained 14.2 14.7
Grammar schools 5.5 5.8
Others 80.3 79.5
Total known 100.0 100.0
(Numbers incl. not known) 3,044 2,964
Cambridge
Grant Maintained 14.8 15.1
Grammar schools 6.9 7.6
Others 78.2 77.3
Total known 100.0 100.0
(Numbers incl. not known) 2,982 2,985
Russell Group2 (excluding Oxford and Cambridge)
Grant Maintained 12.7 13.1
Grammar schools 5.2 5.1
Others 82.0 81.8
Total known 100.0 100.0
(Numbers incl. not known) 49,974 52,618
All institutions
Grant Maintained 9.8 10.2
Grammar schools 4.7 4.7
Others 85.5 85.1
Total known 100.0 100.0
(Numbers incl. not known) 298,220 303,065
1 Classification of school type as designated at the conclusion of the acceptance cycle.
2 Russell Group institutions comprise the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, King's College, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton and Warwick together with Imperial College, London School of Economics and University College London.