§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many higher education places were available in each of the past 20 years; and how many will be available in the next three years. [137829]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 10 November 2000]: Available data are provided in the table. The Department has funded additional planned higher education places: 36,000 in 1999–2000; 35,000 in 2000–01 and 45,000 in 2001–02. Of these additional places, 7 per cent. were for full-time undergraduates doing first degrees and the rest were for part-time students, post-graduates and students studying for courses below first degree level. Part-time undergraduates, who are mostly mature students, accounted for 57 per cent. of the additional places. Places beyond 2001–02 have not yet been decided. A complete time series is not available, but the table shows the recent trend and the projected impact of additional funded and non-funded places.
Home and EU domiciled higher education students in England Thousand Year 1994–951 1,342 1995–961 1,409 1996–971 1,449 1997–981 1,487 1998–9922 1,514 1999–20033 1,556 2000–014 1,599 2001–024 1,654 1 Actual 2 Estimated outturn 3 Provisional 4 Projected