§ Paul FarrellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many mature students have554W (a) applied for, (b) taken up, (c) dropped out of and (d) completed a degree course at universities in England in each academic year since 1997. [104704]
§ Margaret HodgeThe latest available information from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) on applicants and acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses is shown in the table. UCAS does not cover students applying to part-time courses, the majority of whom are mature.
Around three quarters of all mature students enter part-time courses. Information on completion and non-completion rates of HE students is published annually by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education (HE)", but these figures do not separately identify mature students.
UK domiciled students aged 21 or over applying to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses at HE institutions in the UK Academic Year Applicants Acceptances 1996–97 90,687 59,193 1997–98 97,401 65,799 1998–99 85,859 58,557 1999–2000 81,882 57,439 2000–01 82,060 58,169 2001–02 86,467 63,707 2002–03 89,397 67,011 Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)