HC Deb 01 May 2001 vol 367 cc555-6W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the criteria used for the award of Beacon College status. [159000]

Mr. Wicks

[holding answer 26 April 2001]: Taking into account the advice of Inspectorates, Ministers have awarded beacon status to colleges that are considered to

UCAS home accepted applicants (aged 18 or 19): 2000 year of entry cycle by LEA of domicile (England) and social class
Sum of accepted applicant
Social class
LEA Professional Intermediate Skilled non-manual Skilled manual Partly skilled Unskilled Total
Barking 23 76 39 70 30 9 247
Barnsley1 67 204 60 120 68 9 528
Bedfordshire1 290 754 150 202 122 24 1,542
Birmingham 415 1,174 323 686 336 177 3,111
Blackburn with Darwen1 52 186 70 118 59 26 511
Bolton1 111 422 95 173 93 25 919
Bradford 193 683 176 349 124 115 1,640
Brent 186 491 240 324 118 42 1,401
Brighton and Hove1 108 279 45 97 25 9 563
Bristol 215 435 118 131 83 9 991
Bromley1 244 613 192 160 56 9 1,274
Calderdale1 80 310 56 98 40 17 601
Camden 135 250 60 82 39 8 574
Cheshire1 653 1,567 280 382 232 22 3,136
City of Derby1 108 258 67 138 79 23 673
Cornwall1 250 821 183 304 152 33 1,743
Coventry1 137 380 84 219 148 31 999
Croydon1 247 655 248 203 81 12 1,446
Cumbria1 255 750 134 284 147 21 1,591
Derbyshire1 374 1,134 235 379 204 42 2,368
Dudley1 104 423 113 199 82 32 953
Durham1 215 652 163 228 140 40 1,438
Ealing 209 547 218 299 162 49 1,484
East Riding1 182 551 127 196 85 13 1,154
East Sussex1 312 863 170 246 89 17 1,697
Essex1 750 2,240 492 646 255 40 4,423
Gateshead 56 220 81 138 56 4 555
Gloucestershire1 445 1,081 307 287 184 25 2,359
Greenwich 77 232 74 96 35 10 524
Hackney 43 139 61 90 62 24 419
Halton 27 132 37 86 48 7 337
Hammersmith and Fulham 61 208 54 67 32 4 425
Hampshire1 970 2,289 557 614 264 36 4,730
Haringey 138 298 83 124 64 23 730
Hartlepool 26 91 28 72 29 10 256
Herefordshire1 113 380 72 88 42 12 707
Islington 88 174 59 78 38 10 447
Kensington and Chelsea 102 260 45 51 23 8 489
Kent1 845 2,389 634 653 311 71 4,903
Kingston 152 291 104 80 38 2 667

be truly outstanding. Potential candidates were drawn from those colleges that have achieved excellent inspection reports, taking particular account of those serving areas of social deprivation.

The future of Beacon Colleges and the criteria used to assess them will be reviewed in light of recent changes in the post-16 sector, including the new inspection framework.