§ Helen SouthworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will commission a study of the conversion rate for applications against offers for university places for students from lower income groups, broken down by(a) gender, (b) subject and (c) university. [117612]
§ Alan JohnsonThe Government have no plans to commission a study of this nature. They will, however, continue to support through their Aimhigher Programme improvement in the attainment, aspirations and applications of a wider range of young people who hitherto may have failed to participate in Higher Education (HE). Continuing evaluation of the Aimhigher Programme will help determine the effectiveness of our policies on widening participation in HE. We will also support the identification, development and dissemination of good practice in admissions policies and practises across HE.
§ Helen SouthworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he will take to encourage women and girls from lower family income groups to apply for subjects and universities where they are underrepresented. [117614]
§ Alan JohnsonWe are working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry to take forward recommendations made in the Baroness Greenfield's report "SET Fair.- The Government's response, "A Strategy for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology", was published in April 2003. It outlined a coherent strategy to tackle under-representation of women in science, engineering and technology at all levels. Both these documents are available on the website of the Promoting SET for Women Unit of the DTI (www.set4women.gov.uk).
The Government are also working in partnership with the "Welcome Trust" to create a national network of science learning centres. These will provide innovative training for science teachers and technicians, aiming to bring the excitement of science into the classroom, including encouraging more young women to continue studying science post 16.
More generally, we have in place a range of initiatives to encourage greater progression to higher education by those young people who do not traditionally access higher education in large numbers. The Aimhigher programme in particular helps to raise the aspirations of young people. We also provide a range of financial support for students from low income families. For example, we pay the first £1,100 of tuition fees, depending on the income of the student's family. And, in October 2004, we are introducing a new higher education grant of up to £1,000 for those from low income families.
§ Helen SouthworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of careers guidance at each of the universities in assisting students to maximise employment opportunities; and what assessment he has made of equity of outcome in this respect for students from lower family income groups at each of the universities. [117615]
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§ Alan JohnsonFollowing concerns that students in higher education may not be getting the careers advice and guidance they needed, and that quality of provision was variable, we asked Sir Martin Harris, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester to carry out a review. Sir Martin's report was published in January 2001. He found that while there was much good practice, standards generally needed to be brought up to the level of the best. Sir Martin made a number of recommendations to institutions to help them develop their careers services and to make clear to students and employers what they would provide. Since then, Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals have published additional guidance, based on Sir Martin's recommendations, that institutions can use in modernising and providing careers services that are increasingly effective.
The Department does not assess higher education careers services for any specific outcome. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) publishes annually a set of performance indicators for higher education. For the last two years it has published data on employment outcomes from each institution, with benchmarks that include social class as a factor. The data are on HEFCE's website at: www.hefce.ac.uk/Learning/perfind/2002/ and show that, nationally for 2000/01, 93 per cent. of full-time first degree students were employed or going on to further study six months after graduation, although those from lower social classes had a slightly lower employment rate than those from affluent classes.