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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Higher Education (Leeds)

Dr. Hampson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students from Leeds have entered higher education in each of the last five years. [17893]

Mr. Forth: The information requested is not available centrally.

Nursery Places

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many children are currently in nursery places in Lancashire; and what percentage this is of children of nursery school age. [17709]

(2) how many children are currently in nursery places in each local education authority in England; and what percentage that is of the children of nursery school age in each case. [18419]

5 Mar 1997 : Column: 626

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children are currently in nursery places in the London borough of Waltham Forest; and what percentage this is of children of nursery school age. [18079]

Mr. Robin Squire: I refer the hon. Members to statistical bulletin 2/97 which shows numbers and percentages of children aged under five in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools by local education authority area in England in January 1996. A copy of the bulletin is in the Library.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many nursery places for four-year-olds were provided by Leeds city council in the last year for which figures are available; what percentage this was of the number of four-year-olds in the Leeds city area; and what was the national average percentage of four-year-olds provided with a nursery place. [18338]

Mr. Squire: There were just under 3,000 four-year-olds in maintained nursery schools or nursery classes in maintained primary schools in the Leeds education authority area. The Department does not publish information on percentages or participation rates of four-year-olds by local education authority area. The percentage of four-year-olds in England who were in maintained nursery schools or nursery classes in maintained primary schools was 24 per cent. in January 1996.

Participation rates of children under five in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools by local education authority area in England in January 1996 were published in a statistical bulletin on 28 February, a copy of which is in the Library.

Student Loans

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students with student loans eligible for repayment are currently (a) in arrears and (b) in litigation in respect of their repayments. [17718]

Mr. Forth: These are matters for the Student Loans Company. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how often she has met representatives of the Student Loans Company in the last year. [17719]

Mr. Forth: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, met the chairman and chief executive of the Student Loans Company on 9 September.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received in the last year about the student loans system; and if she will make a statement. [17720]

Mr. Forth: Since 1 March 1996, my right hon. Friend has received 202 letters from hon. Members and members of the public on the subject of student loans. In addition, my right hon. Friend has received a number of letters on

5 Mar 1997 : Column: 627

student support generally. The breakdown of how many of those letters included student loans issues could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received from bodies interested in winning a contract to take over the administration of the student loans system. [17721]

Mr. Forth: Contracting out of the administrative functions of the Student Loans Company will be by competitive tendering. The competition has not yet begun, but to date, there have been three such representations.

5 Mar 1997 : Column: 628

Graduate Employment

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the latest figures available for graduates gaining employment related to their degree within six months of graduation in (a) teaching, (b) engineering, (c) biotechnology and research sciences, (d) creative arts, (e) humanities, (f) computing and technology and (g) applied mathematics; and if she will make a statement. [17728]

Mr. Forth: The latest available information giving a complete list of occupations entered and other destinations by selected subject of first degree is given in the following table:

5 Mar 1997 : Column: 627

First degree home graduates from HE institutions in the UK in 1995 for whom destination is known

	Subject of degree:
Destination/occupation	Mathematical sciences	Computing science	Engineering/ technology(9)	Humanities	Creative arts	Education
Entered employment:
Managers	246	445	1,147	746	450	244
Professional Occupations	697	1,122	4,994	629	473	8,067
Associate professional
occupations	317	2,213	1,266	509	2,405	324
Clerical and secretarial	281	376	507	954	624	220
Craft occupations	11	85	276	34	234	18
Personal protective occupations	72	50	175	410	412	261
Sales	106	107	451	545	687	144
Plant machine operatives	17	17	145	49	83	24
Other occupations	63	99	361	196	329	84
Unknown	36	46	124	63	396	103
Entered study or training	1,090	485	2,055	2,491	1,920	390
Not available for employment	120	145	485	428	439	246
Seeking employment	313	695	1,627	1,002	2,006	883
Total home graduates for whom destination is known	3,369	5,885	13,613	8,056	10,458	11,008

(9) Including biotechnology.

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Local Education Authorities

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list in rank order local education authorities by GCSE A to C grade results together with the local education authority rank order place for expenditure per pupil. [18090]

Mrs. Gillan: The following table lists in rank order for each local authority the percentage of 15-year-old pupils obtaining five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C in 1995-96 together with the local education authority rank order place for expenditure per secondary pupil in 1994-95--the latest year for which information is available.

Maintained schools in England(10)

Local	1995-96		1994-95
education authority	Pupils aged 15 achieving 5 or more GCSE Grades A*-C Unit costs
	Per cent.	Rank	Rank(11) (12)
Isles of Scilly	73.1	1	108
Kingston upon Thames	59.9	2	86
Sutton	56.4	3	85
Harrow	53.5	4	90
Barnet	53.4	5	81
North Yorkshire	53.0	6	n/a
North Somerset	52.5	7	n/a
Richmond upon Thames	52.2	8	76
Redbridge	50.8	9	87
West Sussex	50.6	10	47
Buckinghamshire	50.5	11	50
Surrey	50.5	11	45
Bromley	50.3	13	42
Gloucestershire	50.2	14	1
Somerset	50.0	15	18
Solihull	49.6	16	38
Cheshire	49.3	17	29
Dorset	49.3	17	11
Hertfordshire	49.3	17	54
Stockport	49.0	20	25
Berkshire	48.8	21	46
Bury	48.6	22	5
Trafford	48.6	22	65
Wiltshire	48.3	24	20
Shropshire	48.0	25	80
York	47.7	26	n/a
Bath and North East Somerset	47.4	27	n/a
Suffolk	47.0	28	32
Bexley	46.8	29	44
Cambridgeshire	46.7	30	26
Cornwall	46.7	30	33
Kensington and Chelsea	46.7	30	106
Hampshire	46.5	33	30
Northumberland	46.1	34	2
Oxfordshire	45.8	35	58
Dudley	44.9	36	35
South Gloucestershire	44.7	37	n/a
Hereford and Worcester	44.6	38	13
Isle of Wight	44.5	39	4
Lincolnshire	44.5	39	77
Wirral	44.4	41	61
Cumbria	44.2	42	7
Devon	44.2	42	34
Havering	44.1	44	88
Sefton	44.0	45	40
Wigan	43.9	46	21
Kent	43.7	47	57
Warwickshire	43.7	47	71
East Riding of Yorkshire	43.6	49	n/a
Northamptonshire	43.5	50	55
East Sussex	43.3	51	74
Essex	43.1	52	66
Camden	43.0	53	99
Bedfordshire	42.7	54	42
Lancashire	42.6	55	70
Hounslow	42.3	56	89
Derbyshire	42.0	57	59
Bolton	41.9	58	53
Norfolk	41.9	58	69
North Tyneside	41.1	60	23
Enfield	41.0	61	74
Hillingdon	40.9	62	93
St. Helens	40.9	62	49
Staffordshire	40.9	62	15
Calderdale	39.7	65	15
Leicestershire	39.7	65	56
Croydon	38.8	67	27
Kirklees	38.4	68	50
Merton	38.3	69	95
Coventry	38.0	70	82
North Lincolnshire	37.6	71	n/a
Redcar and Cleveland	37.6	71	n/a
Sheffield	37.2	73	17
Stockton on Tees	37.2	73	n/a
Gateshead	36.6	75	52
Leeds	36.6	75	37
Nottinghamshire	36.4	77	79
Durham	36.2	78	19
Rotherham	36.2	78	36
Rochdale	35.4	80	38
Tameside	35.4	80	9
Hammersmith and Fulham	35.3	82	105
Wakefield	35.3	82	9
South Tyneside	35.2	84	12
Brent	35.1	85	6
Ealing	34.6	86	84
Doncaster	33.5	87	3
Waltham Forest	33.4	88	78
Oldham	33.3	89	60
Westminster	33.0	90	100
Birmingham	32.9	91	73
Wandsworth	32.8	92	102
Newcastle Upon Tyne	32.7	93	63
North East Lincolnshire	32.4	94	n/a
Walsall	32.2	95	63
Hartlepool	31.9	96	n/a
Sunderland	31.7	97	22
City of Bristol	30.9	98	n/a
Wolverhampton	30.2	99	68
Salford	30.1	100	24
Lewisham	30.0	101	96
Greenwich	29.1	102	98
Bradford	28.9	103	8
Haringey	28.5	104	101
Barnsley	28.2	105	14
Newham	27.9	106	92
Liverpool	27.6	107	91
Barking and Dagenham	27.1	108	72
Manchester	27.0	109	83
Middlesbrough	26.9	110	n/a
Sandwell	26.5	111	48
Hackney	25.7	112	103
Lambeth	25.1	113	107
Southwark	24.6	114	97
Tower Hamlets	23.9	115	104
Knowsley	23.6	116	41
City of Kingston-upon-Hull	22.8	117	n/a
Islington	22.4	118	94
England	41.7

(10) The figures for GCSE achievements relate to LEA maintained and grant maintained schools in England.

(11) The ranking of unit costs relates to LEA maintained schools only and exclude grant maintained schools. The ranking is in ascending order, the lowest being at the top.

(12) n/a denotes not available.

5 Mar 1997 : Column: 630

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