§ Jon TrickettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in the Hemsworth constituency in education have gone on to(a) further education and (b) higher education in each of the last five years; what percentage these figures represent of the total number in the area; and what the national average was for such persons. [109866]
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§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 28 April 2003]: The information is as follows:
Data on the percentage of students participating in post-compulsory education is not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs as reliable estimates cannot be made. Participation rates at sub-national level are only available for 16 and 17-year-olds.
Hemsworth constituency is part of Wakefield LEA. The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds participating in full-time further education for Wakefield LEA and England in each of the last five years for which data are available, is set out in the table.
Participation in full-time further education Percentage of age group Year end 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 16-year-olds Wakefield LEA 64 70 64 69 67 England 70 70 70 71 71 17-year-olds Wakefield LEA 53 50 51 51 54 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. Hemsworth constituency is part of Wakefield LEA. The proportion of students domiciled in Wakefield LEA and England, aged 18 and accepted through UCAS to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK is given in the table.
17-year-old population 18-year-olds accepted to HE Proportion entering higher education (percentage) Wakefield LEA Autumn 1997 entry 3,800 656 17.1 Autumn 1998 entry 4,000 682 17.2 Autumn 1999 entry 3,800 595 15.5 Autumn 2000 entry 3,900 610 15.8 Autumn 2001 entry 4,000 749 18.8 England Autumn 1997 entry 601,100 123,070 20.5 Autumn 1998 entry 619,700 124,087 20.0 Autumn 1999 entry 612,100 122,640 20.0 Autumn 2000 entry 601,000 123,618 20.6 Autumn 2001 entry 610,900 131,254 21.5 Note:
Participation rates have been calculated using the 17-year-old population from the previous year to reduce the distortion caused to LEA populations by the migration of students to their place of study. Accepted applicants with unknown English domiciles are excluded from the figures. 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.
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§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in Shrewsbury and Atcham are in further education. [109686]
§ Margaret HodgeData on the percentage of students staying on in full-time education are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs, as reliable estimates cannot be made. Participation rates at sub-national level are only available for 16 and 17-year-olds.
Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency is part of Shropshire LEA. The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds participating in further education and training for Shropshire LEA in 2000, the latest year for which figures are available, is set out in the table. Separate figures are shown for those in full-time further education, and those in further education or Government Supported Training.
Participation in education and training in 2000 for Shropshire LEA Percentage of age group Full-time education Total education and training1 16-year-olds 72 87 17-year-olds 62 79 16 and 17-year-olds combined 67 83 1 Includes participation in full and part-time further education qualifications, and in Government Supported Training, counting those in both education and Government Supported Training only once. 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".
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of students in college in Shrewsbury and Atcham successfully completed their further education courses in the last year for which figures are available. [109687]
§ Margaret HodgeThe information is not available in exactly the format asked for, but retention and achievement rates are available. Figures on retention and achievement for further education institutions are published by the Learning and Skills Council. Figures in the following table show further education institutions in Shrewsbury and Atcham. Additionally, the table also covers other further education institutions in the Shropshire Learning and Skills Council area. The table covers 2000/01, the latest year for which data are available.
In-year retention rates measure the percentage of those students who, having enrolled on a learning programme of at least 12 weeks duration, continue to attend at the end of the qualification or the end of the 633W teaching year (31 July), whichever is sooner. Separate information is shown for full-time full-year (described as full-time), and full-time part-year and part-time students (jointly described as part-time).
Percentage In-year retention rates 2000/01 Full-time Part-time Achievement rate Further education institutions in Shrewsbury and Atcham Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology 87 88 81 Shrewsbury Sixth Form College 97 92 91 Other FE institutions in Shropshire Learning and Skills Council Ludlow College 97 86 81 New College, Telford 92 88 81 Telford College of Arts and Technology 89 87 87 Walford and North Shropshire College 89 84 92
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average level of funding was for each student in each college in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1997. [109688]
§ Margaret HodgeThis is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. I have therefore asked John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested and to place a copy of his reply in the Library.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual repayment of debt(a) to the Student Loans Company and (b) to others was of a higher education student graduating in each year since 1997. [105944]
§ Margaret HodgeBorrowers become liable to repay their loans from the April after they finish or leave their course, depending on their earnings. Students who started their course before academic year 1998/99 repay their loans on a mortgage style basis. The table shows the average repayment of mortgage style student loans in financial years 1999–2000 to 2001–02 (the latest year available) for borrowers who became liable to repay their loans in the financial years 1998–99 to 2001–02 and who are making repayments; the table excludes any voluntary repayments made by borrowers before becoming liable to repay their loans.
Students who started their course from the 1998/99 academic year will repay income contingent loans. Repayments of income contingent loans, apart from voluntary repayments and repayments from overseas borrowers, are made through the tax system. The scheme started in April 2000 and details of repayments are notified to the Student Loans Company by the Inland Revenue from the end of the relevant financial year. Therefore complete data on the average repayment of income contingent loans are not yet available.
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£ Financial year entered repayment status6,7 Mortgage style student loans1,2—Average repayments made during financial year3,4,5 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 1998–99 530 580 610 1999–2000 490 600 650 2000–01 8— 570 680 2001–02 8— 8— 640 Achievement rates measure the total number of qualification aims achieved, expressed as a percentage of the total number of qualification aims for which students have completed the learning programmes.
1 Loans available to borrowers who entered higher education before academic year 1998/99, and those who entered in 1998/99 to whom the existing arrangements applied. These loans are repayable on a fixed term basis, over 5 or 7 years depending on length of course, if the borrower's income exceeds the repayment threshold.
2 Includes repayments on debts sold in the two portfolios of student loans which are administered by the Student Loans Company.
3 Data are not available on repayments by cohort made in financial year 1998–99.
4 Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
5 Excludes those who have made no repayment because of deferment.
6 The table excludes any repayments made by borrowers before entering repayment status.
7 Borrowers are liable to repay their loans from the April following their graduation or otherwise leaving their course.
8 Not applicable.
Source:
Student Loans Company
Data on repayments of other debt for which there is no private subsidy, such as overdrafts, credit cards and informal debt to family and friends are not available centrally.
§ Mr. DawsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 17 March 2003,Official Report, column 571–72W, on student fees, when the chief executive of HEFCE will supply the information about franchising arrangements. [109312]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 29 April 2003]: The Department has now received the most up-to-date information about students franchised from higher education institutions from HEFCE. The information has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the review of the possibility of post A-level entry to higher education will be completed. [110924]
§ Margaret HodgeIn response to the Tomlinson report into A-level standards, we said in the Higher Education White Paper that the Department for Education and Skills would work with higher education institutions, schools, colleges and awarding bodies to explore the way forward on this issue. Discussions are now taking place and are due to be completed later this year.
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§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the study by Professor Schwartz on assessment of the merit of applicants to higher education will be available. [110965]
§ Margaret HodgeI will make an announcement shortly.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria will apply to fees review within the quinquennial access agreement term, with particular reference to the position of existing students. [110928]
§ Margaret HodgeThe access agreement will set out how the institution plans to evolve its variable fee
1£ 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 22003–04 Publicly planned funding per FTE real terms 2001 prices 4,980 5,020 5,050 5,200 Publicly planned funding per FTE cash terms 4,860 5,020 5,170 5,450 1 Rounded to the nearest 10. 2 Plans
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to substitute the harmonised European inflation index for the retail prices index in the calculation of liabilities for student loans. [110883]
§ Ruth KellyI have been asked to reply.
There is no change proposed in our calculation of liabilities for student loans.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to offer the raised income threshold for student loans available from April 2005 to existing income-contingent loans. [110930]
§ Margaret HodgeThe proposed change in the income threshold for repaying income-contingent loans from £10,000 to £15,000 in April 2005 will benefit existing borrowers and new students. It will benefit existing graduates because those earning below £15,000, will no longer be liable to make repayments, and those earning above £15,000 will have a reduction in their repayments.
§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what guidance the new Office for Fair Access will issue on admissions procedures for universities; [110106]
(2) what measures the Office for Fair Access will use to enforce guidance it issues on admissions. [110090]
§ Margaret HodgeIndividual universities' admissions policies and procedures will be outside the remit of the access agreement and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). We have asked Professor Schwartz, Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University, to lead a team to identify good practice in admissions. We expect one of the results of this work to be a statement of principles about admissions which we hope all universities will adopt. Those wishing to charge a higher tuition fee will wish to demonstrate to OFFA that they subscribe to these principles.
636Wpolicies over the duration of the agreement. If an institution wants to make changes beyond those already noted in the access agreement, it will notify the Office for Fair Access OFFA—which, depending on the scale or extent of the change proposed, will decide whether to call in the proposal for reconsideration.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the unit of funding was for each student in(a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03; and what the planned figure is for 2003–04 at 2001–02 prices. [107995]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 9 April 2003]: The figures for publicly planned funding per full time equivalent student in higher education at 2001 prices and in cash terms are shown in the table.