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Medical School Places
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the number of medical school places for doctors in England and Wales for the last five years and the projected numbers for the next five years. [108801]
Mr. Wicks: The available information is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Actual | |
| 1994-95 | 3,778 |
| 1995-96 | 3,778 |
| 1996-97 | 3,686 |
| 1997-98 | 3,784 |
| 1998-99 | 3,804 |
| Projected | |
| 1999-2000 | 4,115 |
| 2000-01 | 4,425 |
| 2001-02 | 4,741 |
| 2002-03 | 4,759 |
| 2003-04 | 4,787 |
The increase in the number of places reflects the recommendation of the Medical Workforce Standing Advisory Committee.
Dental School Places
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the number
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of dental school places in England and Wales for each of the last five years and the projected number for the next five years. [108800]
Mr. Wicks:
There have been 660 dental school places in England and Wales since 1994-95. There are no plans to change this number. Information is listed in the following table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Actual | |
| 1994-95 | 660 |
| 1995-96 | 660 |
| 1996-97 | 660 |
| 1997-98 | 660 |
| 1998-99 | 660 |
| Projected | |
| 1999-2000 | 660 |
| 2000-01 | 660 |
| 2001-02 | 660 |
| 2002-03 | 660 |
| 2003-04 | 660 |
University Tuition Fees
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is his estimate of the cost of abolishing university tuition fees in England and Wales, for each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [108865]
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Mr. Wicks:
We estimate that the cash cost of abolishing fees would be £110 million in 2001-02. The full economic cost, taking account of lower loan repayments in future years (on a resource accounting and budgeting basis), would be £270 million as the assessed contribution towards students' tuition fees would instead be taken into account in determining the level of student loan a student could apply for. Both costs are in current day prices. Figures beyond the end of the current CSR period would depend on student numbers on which decisions have not yet been made.
Mr. Woodward:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average class sizes were for (a) 11, (b) 10, (c) 9, (d) 8, (e) 7, (f) 12, (g) 13, (h) 14, (i) 15, (j) 16, and (k) 17 year olds in each school in the Witney constituency over the past three years; and what were the national averages in the same period. [109093]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Information on class sizes for individual schools is not normally published. Where individual school information is published, as in the School Performance tables, the information is first checked with the schools concerned.
The available information on class sizes in the parliamentary constituency of Witney, and in England, is shown in the table. In Witney parliamentary constituency, the large majority of classes in maintained primary schools involve mixed year groups so these have also been shown for completeness.
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| Witney Ages(10) | England Ages(10) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainly under 14s | Mainly 14 and 15 | 16 or older | Total | Mainly under 14s | Mainly 14 and 15 | 16 or older | Total | |
| 1999 | ||||||||
| Average class size | 25.5 | 20.7 | 10.2 | 21.3 | 25.1 | 21.7 | 10.5 | 21.7 |
| Number of classes | 130 | 106 | 43 | 279 | 61,085 | 46,891 | 18,615 | 126,591 |
| Number of pupils | 3,320 | 2,190 | 440 | 5,950 | 1,532,646 | 1,016,561 | 195,247 | 2,744,454 |
| 1998 | ||||||||
| Average class size | 25.0 | 21.2 | 9.9 | 21.1 | 24.9 | 21.6 | 10.7 | 21.6 |
| Number of classes | 131 | 103 | 46 | 280 | 59,836 | 46,936 | 18,433 | 125,205 |
| Number of pupils | 3,273 | 2,185 | 457 | 5,915 | 1,488,715 | 1,013,579 | 197,077 | 2,699,371 |
| 1997 | ||||||||
| Average class size | 24.5 | 21.9 | 10.3 | 21.1 | 24.7 | 21.6 | 10.8 | 21.5 |
| Number of classes | 135 | 103 | 50 | 288 | 59,160 | 46,784 | 18,093 | 124,037 |
| Number of pupils | 3,305 | 2,253 | 517 | 6,075 | 1,460,685 | 1,011,036 | 194,560 | 2,666,281 |
(9) Excludes middle schools
(10) Ages as at the start of the academic year (August 31)
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New Deal
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the (a) New Deal for Lone Parents programme and (b) New Deal for Disabled People programme. [108514]
Ms Hodge
[holding answer 7 February 2000]: The New Deal for Lone Parents programme is working well. Since October 1998, 112,570 lone parents have attended an initial
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interview with a personal adviser and 89 per cent. of those parents have agreed to participate further. At the end of November 1999, 32,710 had found jobs.
The New Deal for Disabled People is still in the pilot stage and continues to make encouraging progress. Since the pilots began in autumn 1998, 13,539 people on incapacity benefits have attended initial interview or applied for innovative schemes, around two out of three participated further, and as a result 1,911 have found jobs.
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An interim evaluation report was published in December 1999, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library. We are actively considering the way forward.
Mr. Trickett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of the residents of (a) Wakefield District and (b) Hemsworth constituency have degree-level educational qualifications. [109055]
Mr. Wicks:
The available published data from the 1991 Census of Population show that the proportion of people aged 18 and over with higher education qualifications was 13.3 per cent. in Wakefield, and 10.3 per cent. in Hemsworth. A higher education qualification is defined as any academic, professional or vocational qualification above A-level standard. The published census data do not separately identify persons who have degree-level qualifications. Similar data will be available when the results of the 2001 Census are published.
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the numbers of academic staff leaving British universities for posts abroad in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [109022]
Mr. Wicks:
The available data are given in the table. There has always been some academic recruitment across national boundaries and the numbers for the most recent years represent only around 5 per cent. of all staff who leave the higher education sector.
| Staff leaving to take up employment abroad(11) | |
|---|---|
| Former UFC(12) funded universities in GB | |
| Calendar year: | |
| 1989 | (13)183 |
| 1990 | (13)192 |
| 1991 | (13)184 |
| 1992 | (13)200 |
| 1993 | (13)183 |
| All HE institutions in the UK | |
| Academic year: | |
| 1994-95 | (14)170 |
| 1995-96 | (14)268 |
| 1996-97 | (14)303 |
| 1997-98 | (14)290 |
| 1998-99 | (14)294 |
(11) Includes employment in HE institutions, research institutes, and other overseas employment.
(12) Universities Funding Council.
(13) Including staff who left for study abroad.
(14) Excluding staff who did not give details of their destination.
Mature Students
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of mature students (a) entering and (b) graduating from higher education in each of the last five years. [108516]
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Mr. Wicks
[holding answer 7 February 2000]: The latest available data are given in the tables. Mature students are defined as postgraduates aged 25 and over and undergraduates aged 21 and over. 1997 entrant numbers may have been inflated because entrants were influenced by the knowledge that fees would be introduced with effect from 1998. Comparable data for entrants and graduates in 1999-2000 will be published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in April 2000 and February 2001 respectively.
| Aged under 25 | 25 and over | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postgraduates | |||
| 1994-95 | 54.6 | 118.2 | 172.8 |
| 1995-96 | 57.6 | 123.3 | 180.9 |
| 1996-97 | 56.7 | 115.9 | 172.7 |
| 1997-98 | 56.6 | 124.3 | 180.9 |
| 1998-99 | 59.5 | 129.9 | 189.4 |
| Undergraduates | |||
| 1994-95 | 247.4 | 256.7 | 504.1 |
| 1995-96 | 255.7 | 283.0 | 538.7 |
| 1996-97 | 259.8 | 282.1 | 541.9 |
| 1997-98 | 277.3 | 276.4 | 553.7 |
| 1998-99 | 276.8 | 272.7 | 549.5 |
(15) Full-time and part-time
(16) Ages as at 31 August in each academic year
| Aged under 25 | 25 and over | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postgraduates | |||
| 1994-95 | 26.7 | 63.6 | 90.3 |
| 1995-96 | 29.9 | 75.5 | 105.5 |
| 1996-97 | 30.7 | 78.7 | 109.3 |
| 1997-98 | 32.4 | 81.9 | 114.3 |
| 1998-99 | 32.9 | 82.7 | 115.6 |
| Undergraduates | |||
| 1994-95 | 73.3 | 223.7 | 297.0 |
| 1995-96 | 75.0 | 235.8 | 310.8 |
| 1996-97 | 76.5 | 240.9 | 317.5 |
| 1997-98 | 77.6 | 245.0 | 322.6 |
| 1998-99 | 82.8 | 248.5 | 331.3 |
(17) Full-time and part-time
(18) Ages as at August in each academic year
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