HC Deb 28 January 2002 vol 379 cc113-5W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the social class breakdown was in 2001 of students who(a) applied for and (b) were successful in obtaining places on degree courses at British universities in (i) law, (ii) medicine, (iii) engineering, (iv) nursing, (v) B Ed teaching, (vi) accountancy, (vii) veterinary studies and (viii) psychology; and what the percentage change in (A) applicants and (B) successful places has been since 1995, broken down by social class. [29690]

Applicants 1and accepted applicants through UCAS to full-time and sandwich first-degree courses in the United Kingdom by social class and subject
Social class
Year of entry Professional Intermediate Skilled manual Skilled non-manual Partly skilled Unskilled Not known Grand total
1995
Applicants1
Pre-clinical medicine 3,489 3,665 879 845 554 125 490 10,047
Nursing 594 1,948 1,066 560 526 136 560 5,390
Psychology 3,726 11,205 4,806 3,444 2,303 658 2,991 29,133
Veterinary science 348 647 136 124 62 7 57 1,381
Engineering2 4,254 9,544 4,907 2,809 2,242 467 2,580 26,803
Law 2,919 7,598 3,062 2,259 1,462 480 2,039 19,819
Accountancy 1,171 3,978 2,216 1,510 1,064 328 1,192 11,459
Education3 4,199 16,010 9,306 5,338 3,811 1,002 3,840 43,506
Accepted Applicants
Pre-clinical medicine 1,720 1,571 280 341 167 29 127 4,235
Nursing 225 596 290 171 126 31 146 1,585
Psychology 1,015 2,671 1,055 782 502 136 673 6,834
Veterinary science >145 248 27 42 10 2 8 482
Engineering2 2,430 5,034 2,411 1,432 1,115 240 1,399 14,061
Law 1,541 3,570 1,272 965 592 166 793 8,899
Accountancy 424 1,381 731 538 354 108 390 3,926
Education3 1,285 4,605 2,442 1,513 952 214 1,014 12,025
2001
Applicants1
Pre-clinical medicine 2,805 3,017 690 716 351 74 1,003 8,656
Nursing 538 2,878 1,221 1,086 1,222 177 1,560 8,682
Psychology 2,969 10,327 4,176 3,409 2,143 537 3,179 26,740
Veterinary science 394 698 161 151 71 11 131 1,617
Engineering2 3,418 8,277 4,081 2,393 1,624 378 3,403 23,574
Law 2,686 7,693 3,246 2,584 1,416 476 2,961 21,062
Accountancy 1,000 3,587 1,943 1,429 850 271 1,479 10,559
Education3 1,222 5,912 3,397 2,438 1,875 352 2,071 17,267
Accepted Applicants
Pre-clinical medicine 2,053 2,037 406 439 204 36 500 5,675
Nursing 246 1,349 472 431 515 58 622 3,693
Psychology 1,166 3,981 1,404 1,305 732 164 1,209 9,961
Veterinary science 175 290 43 48 26 1 53 636
Engineering2 2,058 4,493 2,047 1,216 841 190 1,749 12,594
Law 1,731 4,658 1,781 1,501 747 256 1,686 12,360
Accountancy 411 1,413 743 649 355 103 626 4,300
Education3 530 2,422 1,320 1,009 777 115 792 6,965

Percentage change for applicants1and accepted applicants from 1995 to 2001
Social class
Year of entry Professional Intermediate Skilled manual Skilled non-manual Partly skilled Unskilled Not known Grand total
2001
Applicants1
Pre-clinical medicine -20 -18 -22 -15 -37 -41 105 -14
Nursing -9 48 15 94 132 30 179 61
Psychology -20 -8 -13 -1 -7 -18 6 -8
Veterinary science 13 8 18 22 15 57 130 17
Engineering2 -20 -13 -17 -15 -28 -19 32 -12

Margaret Hodge

Information for the years 1995 and 2001, and the percentage change, is shown in the tables. A change in the UCAS application system contributed to the decrease in applications between 1995 and 2001: in 1995 each applicant could make up to eight applications; but in 2001 each applicant could only make up to six applications.

The Government are committed to raising the participation rates for people from less affluent family backgrounds, and have 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.

Percentage Change for applicants1 accepted applicants from 1995 to 2001
Social class
Year of entry Professional Intermediate Skilled manual Skilled non-manual Partly skilled Unskilled Not known Grand total
Law -8 1 6 14 -3 -1 45 6
Accountancy -15 -10 -12 -5 -20 -17 24 -8
Education3 -71 -63 -63 -54 -51 -65 -46 -60
Accepted Applicants
Pre-clinical medicine 19 30 45 29 22 24 294 34
Nursing 9 126 63 152 309 87 326 133
Psychology 15 49 33 67 46 21 80 46
Veterinary science 21 17 59 14 160 -50 563 32
Engineering2 -15 -11 -15 -15 -25 -21 25 -10
Law 12 30 40 56 26 54 113 39
Accountancy -3 2 2 21 0 -5 61 10
Education3 -59 -47 -46 -33 -18 -46 -22 -42
1In 1995 each student could make up to eight applications; in 2001 each student could make up to 6 applications. In the tables, applicants are counted once under each subject to which they applied.
2Includes general, civil, mechanical, aeronautical, electrical, electronic, production/manufacturing and chemical engineering courses.
3Includes courses within the Education Group that lead to Qualified Teacher Status. In 1995, the Education group included all sports science, leisure studies and recreation management courses. Since 1997, these courses have been re-coded into other subject lines.