§ Huw Irranca-DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the financial impact of the proposed higher education reforms on graduates of medical courses from different socio-economic backgrounds. [165426]
§ Alan JohnsonDuring the first four years of their courses medical students have the same student support as any other eligible higher education students; and pay the same contributions to fees. The Government have made a number of proposals to safeguard access to higher education for those from low income families. Around three in ten students will receive means tested maintenance grants of £2,700, and over half will be eligible for full or partial grants, as well as bursaries and other support from universities under arrangements agreed by the Office of Fair Access.
Fees for English domiciled medical students in years 5 and 6 are currently paid by the Department of Health. These students also qualify for means tested NHS bursaries in their fifth and subsequent years of study. Department of Health Ministers have indicated that they will, if necessary, take measures to ensure that any increase in the level of tuition fees will not have an adverse impact on the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on health professional courses, including medicine.
Under our proposals, arrangements for repayment of non means tested fee loans will, for all graduates, be heavily subsidised: graduates will repay their loans at zero real rate of interest and only when their income exceeds £15,000 per year. Repayments will then be made at a rate of 9 per cent. of income above £15,000. According to Graduate Prospects, GPs can expect to earn in excess of £46,000 a year at the start of their careers. This compares very favourably with the salaries of other newly qualified graduates.
The Gateways to the Professions Review under Sir Alan Langlands will look at how the public sector and the professions, including medicine, can sustain and improve recruitment opportunities for graduates, especially those who do not qualify for the full £3,000 grant and bursary support. It will report by mid-2005.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of school leavers in(a) Greater London and (b) each London borough went on to higher education in each year since 1997. [162334]
§ Alan JohnsonThe available information is taken from the Universities and college Admissions service (UCAS) and covers 18 year old applicants accepted through UCAS to full time first degree and HND courses. Figures are given in the table.
43W
Percentage of 18 year olds accepted for entry to HE through UCAS Percentage Year of entry LEA 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Camden 18.8 16.9 18.5 19.6 18.6 20.3 City of London1 — — — — — — Croydon 22.3 22.4 22.6 24.8 25.2 24.8 Ealing 23.8 23.4 26.3 26.5 27.7 29.4 Enfield 24.9 24.1 25.7 26.8 28.4 30.9 Greenwich 13.1 11.8 13.0 12.6 14.5 14.3 Hackney 11.2 10.4 11.3 12.0 14.0 12.2 Hammersmith and Fulham 18.0 17.1 18.8 17.7 20.4 19.6 Haringey 17.6 17.5 18.3 19.2 18.0 20.4 Harrow 32.4 33.2 34.1 34.3 38.2 39.4 Havering 16.2 15.0 16.9 17.3 19.0 15.5 Hillingdon 20.2 22.0 21.4 22.1 23.5 27.0 Hounslow 22.6 23.4 21.5 25.5 25.6 27.4 Islington 12.3 13.5 12.7 16.1 16.3 16.1 Kensington and Chelsea 22.1 18.8 18.7 18.9 19.2 19.9 Kingston upon Thames 27.8 27.5 26.1 28.6 31.5 32.6 Lambeth 13.4 13.3 12.9 14.7 15.7 17.0 Lewisham 16.3 14.2 13.7 16.1 15.6 16.7 Merton 22.4 22.1 24.2 22.9 22.9 26.4 Newham 14.8 15.4 16.9 18.1 20.1 19.2 Redbridge 27.3 27.6 27.1 31.0 31.9 34.9 Richmond upon Thames 31.9 31.1 29.5 29.6 32.4 30.3 Southwark 12.6 11.2 14.1 13.5 14.8 15.7 Sutton 25.1 26.0 24.6 26.6 27.7 30.6 Tower Hamlets 9.8 10.8 11.5 13.3 14.6 14.6 Waltham Forest 18.7 17.4 18.5 20.1 21.0 21.6 Wandsworth 20.8 18.8 21.0 21.7 23.9 23.6 Westminster 17.0 16.7 16.2 14.3 16.2 17.0 Total Greater London 20.7 20.3 20.6 21.8 23.0 23.9 1The effect of year on year fluctuations on a small population mean this method of calculating participation rates is unreliable for the City of London.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he has undertaken a gender impact assessment of the latest pay proposals for higher education staff. [164768]
§ Alan JohnsonAs independent and autonomous bodies, higher education institutions are responsible for their own academic and administrative affairs, including pay for their staff. Institutions must decide for themselves the level of evaluation they wish to undertake on the impact of the new pay proposals.