HC Deb 12 March 2004 vol 418 cc1788-9W
Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) 16, (b) 17, (c) 18, (d) 19, (e) 20 and (f) 21-year-olds were in further education in the last year for which figures are available. [160459]

Alan Johnson

The information is contained in table 3.8 of the Statistical Volume "Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2003 edition", a copy of which is available in the Library. The publication is also available online at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgatewav/DB/VOL/v000431/index.shtml.

Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many undergraduates domiciled in England under the age of 24 entered a UK university in each of the last five years; and how many pupils domiciled in England were in upper sixth form education in each of the last six years; [143217]

(2) how many undergraduates domiciled in England under the age of 24 his Department expects to enter a UK university in each of the next six years; and how many pupils domiciled in England his Department expects will attend upper sixth form education in each of the next five years. [143218]

Alan Johnson

Figures for undergraduates entering UK HE institutions for the last five years are in the table. Projections are not available at this level.

English domiciled students under the age of 24 entering UK HEIs
Number
1997–98 238,703
1998–99 242,840
1999–2000 244,953
2000–01 247,689
2001–02 259,964
2002–03 268,976

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Data on pupils in upper sixth form education are not available as we do not have data with the exact definitions for this group of young people. However, data with equivalent definitions—17-year-olds participating in full-time education by institution type—is readily available and published in the Statistical First Release

Table I: Number of 17-year-olds in full-time education by institution type
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001(a) 1 2001(b) 2 2002 2
Full-time education
Maintained schools 129,600 131,400 132,200 136,800 136,100 136,100 140.200
Independent schools 36,600 36,200 35,300 35,500 35,400 35,400 37,000
Sixth form colleges 47,400 46,600 46,400 47,400 47,800 47.800 51,900
General FE, tertiary and specialist colleges 140,800 135,800 135,700 136,400 136,100 134,300 143,700
Higher education institutions 3,000 3,000 3,200 3,200 3,500 3,500 3,900
Total 357,300 353,000 352,900 359,300 358,900 357,000 376,800

1 The break in the series is due to changes in the source of further education data. Students on solely government supported work based learning-funded courses (WBL) are no longer recorded in the further education data. Results for end 2001 have been produced using both methods and are given in the tables, the second set (b) being consistent with end 2002. 2 Provisional. Please see 'Notes for Editors' section in the SFR 31/2:003 for more information.

Projections on a consistent basks are not available. A consistent set of projections will be published in the 2004 Departmental Report.