§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has in conjunction with the Learning and Skills Council to introduce standing arrangements to reduce bureaucracy in the further education sector. [115082]
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§ Margaret HodgeThe DfES and the LSC are committed to reducing the burden of bureaucracy for providers across the whole of the learning and skills sector. We will establish an independent gatekeeper group to reduce bureaucracy. The group will assess the bureaucratic impact of new and existing policies and practices on providers in the sector. It will challenge the Department and the LSC to change these, and advise on how this can best be done. The group will begin its work this summer.
§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency have gone on to(a) further and (b) higher education in each of the last five years; what percentage these figures represent of the total number of 16 to 18-year-olds in the area; and what the average is in England for such persons. [115536]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisData on the percentage of students participating in post-compulsory education are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs as reliable estimates cannot be made. Participation rates at sub-national level are available only for 16 and 17-year-olds.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency is divided between Redcar and Cleveland LEA and Middlesbrough LEA. The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds participating in full-time further education for these two LEAs and England in each of the last five years, for which data are available, are set out in the following table.
Participation in full-time further education Percentage of age group End 1996 End 1997 End 1998 End 1999 End 2000 16-year-olds Middlesbrough LEA 61 59 58 68 68 Redcar & Cleveland LEA 60 59 61 64 62 England 70 70 70 71 71 17-year-olds Middlesbrough LEA 46 45 48 50 55 Redcar & Cleveland LEA 51 46 49 51 51 England 57 57 57 58 58 Note:
Population data do not include any revisions following the 2001 census
Source:
DfES Statistical Bulletin, published 16 December 2002
Participation rates by LEA for 16 and 17-year-olds are published in an annual statistical bulletin, Participation in Education and Training by 16 and 17-Year-Olds in Each Local Area in England. This bulletin is available on the departmental website www. dfes.gov.uk/statistics
Figures for the number of students who enter higher education are not collated centrally on a constituency basis. Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency is divided between Redcar and Cleveland LEA and Middlesbrough LEA. The proportion of students domiciled in these two LEAs and England, aged 18 and accepted through UCAS to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK is given in the following table.
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Autumn Entry 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Middlesbrough LEA 17 year-old-population 2,100 2,100 2,000 2,100 2,100 18 year-olds accepted to HE 314 325 340 406 379 Proportion entering Higher Education1 14.6 15.6 16.9 19.4 18.4 Redcar and Cleveland LEA 17-year-old population 2,000 1,900 1,900 1,800 1,900 18-year-olds accepted to HE 328 341 302 353 334 Proportion entering Higher Education1 16.4 17.8 16.0 19.4 17.1 England 17-year-old population 619,700 612,100 601,000 610,900 613,600 18-year-olds accepted to HE 124,533 123,441 123,708 131,322 134,840 Proportion entering Higher Education1 20.1 20.2 20.6 21 5 22.0 1Percentage Note:
Participation rates have been calculated using the 17-year-old population from the previous year to reduce the distortion caused to LEA population by the migration of students to their place of study. England figures include a very small number of accepted applicants of unknown English domicile. Population figures relate to persons aged 17 at 31 August in the year prior to entry, counts taken at the following 1 January; accepted applicants are aged 18 at 30 September in the year of entry.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on(a) plans for merger and (b) recent closures of further and higher education institutions, with particular reference to proposals that affect Hampshire. [116348]
§ Margaret HodgeI am not aware of plans to merge or close any further or higher education institution in Hampshire. There are always a number of potential changes being discussed locally; the majority of which do not result in a formal proposal to the Secretary of State. More further and higher education institutions are entering into strategic alliances to increase collaboration both within each sector and across sectors. However, one school sixth form in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Learning and Skills Council Area has recently decided to close due to falling numbers of students in an area well provided with high quality colleges.
§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many students were admitted to higher education from each socio-economic group in each academic year since 1997; [110104]
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UK domiciled applicants and accepted applicants via UCAS to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses in the UK from 1996 to 2001 Thousand Year of entry: Applicants 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Professional 49.9 48.4 47.0 46.5 45.8 45.8 Intermediate 139.0 150.3 147.3 144.8 144.7 144.8 Skilled non-manual 43.0 49.6 47.1 47.1 48.1 48.1 Skilled manual 58.2 60.7 58.9 58.5 57.2 60.6 Partly skilled 28.3 32.2 31.0 30.8 31.7 29.5 Unskilled 7.0 7.9 7.3 7.5 7.3 7.1 Unknown 39.4 49.2 51.0 53.5 54.3 63.6 Total 364.9 398.3 389.6 388.7 389.1 399.6 Accepted applicants Professional 39.3 39.6 38.5 38.9 38.8 39.7 Intermediate 105.0 117.4 115.6 115.7 117.7 120.8 Skilled non-manual 31.3 37.3 35.6 36.3 37.8 38.8 Skilled manual 40.9 44.8 44.2 44.5 44.4 48.4 Partly skilled 19.9 23.5 22.7 23.1 24.2 23.1 Unskilled 4.9 5.6 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.6 Unknown 27.1 35.0 36.6 39.1 40.3 49.0 Total 268.3 303.3 298.2 303.1 308.7 325.5 (2) how many applicants to higher education were from each socio-economic group, in each academic year since 1997. [110105]
§ Margaret HodgeThe available information, as given in the table, covers only those who apply to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS); data on the family background of students applying to part-time courses are not held centrally. In 2002 UCAS moved to recording social class using the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) measure. There is no method of converting between the two measures of social class. As a result, the figures for 2002 entry are given in a separate table. There was an increase in entrants in 1997/98 related partly to changes in the funding arrangements for higher education, with students choosing to enter HE in that year rather than wait until 1998/99. There was a corresponding reduction in 1998/99 before entrants started to increase again in 1999/00.
The Government are committed to raising the participation rates for people from less affluent backgrounds, and has introduced the Aimhigher programme, which is targeted at raising attainment and aspirations among young people who traditionally would not consider going to university. 215W
UK domiciled applicants and accepted applicants via UCAS to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses in the UK in 2002 Thousand Applicants 2002 entry Higher managerial and professional occupations 71.1 Lower managerial and professional occupations 99.4 Intermediate occupations 51.0 Small employers and own account workers 24.5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 15.6 Semi-routine occupations 43.5 Routine occupations 19.9 Unknown 76.9 Total 401.9 Acceptances Higher managerial and professional occupations 61.4 Lower managerial and professional occupations 83.5 Intermediate occupations 42.1 Small employers and own account workers 20.1 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 12.8 Semi-routine occupations 34.6 Routine occupations 15.9 Unknown 61.3 Total 331.7
§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of undergraduates failed to complete a course at a higher education institution, broken down by institution and course title, in each year since 1997. [110136]
§ Margaret HodgeThe available information on non-completion rates is contained in Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), copies of which are available from the House Library. The figures cover full-time first degree courses only, and show, for each individual HE institution in the UK, the proportion of entrants who failed to complete their course. Copies of the HEFCE publication are available for students starting courses in 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000. The next edition, covering students starting courses in 2000/01, is scheduled for publication in autumn 2003.
Nationally, the non-completion rate has remained broadly the same at 17–18 per cent. since 1991–92, a period of considerable expansion of student numbers.
Figures published in 2002 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the UK has one of the lowest non-completion rates among OECD countries.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the impact of its higher education proposals on the UK economy. [115591]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Governments White Paper, The future of higher education, sets out in broad terms the economic case for expanding and improving higher education.
Officials in my Department are currently developing a Regulatory Impact Assessment which will consider in more detail the costs and benefits of our higher education proposals on business and the sector.