§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students from Warrington entered higher education in the past five years, broken down by social class. [84231]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 2 December 2002]: The latest available information, covering students who were accepted for entry to full-time and sandwich first degree courses via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), is shown in the table. Comparable figures for 2002 will be available in January 2003.
The Government are committed to raising the participation of those from social classes which are currently under-represented in higher education, and has introduced Excellence Challenge, including the AimHigher campaign, which is targeted at raising attainment and aspirations among young people who traditionally would not consider going to university.
Students from Warrington LEA who were accepted for entry to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses in the UK Year of entry Social class: 1998 1999 2000 2001 Professional 116 122 116 141 Intermediate 340 370 351 350 Skilled non manual 79 78 94 93 Skilled manual 133 116 126 128 Partly skilled 75 74 67 61 Unskilled 10 8 6 5 Unknown 80 77 93 109 Total 833 845 853 887