---

Rural Schools

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of rural (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are located (i) within 5 km, (b) 5 to 10 km, (c) 10 to 15 km and (d) more than 15 km from the nearest settlement with under 3,000 people. [46457]

18 Apr 2002 : Column 1125W

Mr. Timms [holding answer 15 April 2002]: I am not aware of any schools which are more than five km from the nearest house. It is likely, therefore, that all primary and secondary schools fall in category (i).

Social Care Students

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many social care places have been offered by higher education institutions since 1997. [47382]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The available information, which shows the total number of students on social work courses, is given in the table.

Students⁽¹⁷⁾ on social work⁽¹⁸⁾ courses at higher education institutions in the UK

	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Postgraduate	7,300	8,000	7,400	7,500
Undergraduate	18,400	17,400	18,200	19,900
Total	25,800	25,400	25,500	27,400

⁽¹⁷⁾ Census count as at December 1. Covers home and overseas students, on full-time and part-time courses. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100. Figures may not sum to totals because of rounding.

⁽¹⁸⁾ Covers all programmes classed as social work by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, but not all of these will lead to a professional qualification.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students took up places in higher education institutions to study social care courses in (a) 2001, (b) 2000 and (c) 1999; and, of these, how many did not complete their courses. [47383]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The latest available information on the number of students entering social work courses is given in the table. Figures for 2001–02 will be available at the end of April 2002.

Entrants⁽¹⁹⁾ to social work⁽²⁰⁾ courses in higher education institutions in the UK

	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Postgraduate	4,000	3,500	3,700
Undergraduate	8,800	9,800	10,000
Total	12,900	13,400	13,700

⁽¹⁹⁾ Covers home and overseas students, on full-time and part-time courses. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100. Figures may not sum to totals because of rounding.

⁽²⁰⁾ Covers all programmes classed as social work by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, but not all of these will lead to a professional qualification.

The available information on non-completion rates is contained in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK", published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The figures cover full-time first degree courses only, but they are not disaggregated by subject. The latest figures, covering all subjects, show that 17 per cent. of students who began their studies in UK higher education institutions in 1998–99 failed to complete their course.

School Spending

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the spending per head for each of the last five years by each local authority in England was

18 Apr 2002 : Column 1126W

on the education of school pupils (a) of primary school age, (b) of secondary school age and (c) in further education. [48607]

Mr. Timms: The information requested for (a) primary school age and (b) secondary school age pupils for 1995–96 to 1999–2000 for which expenditure data are currently available, for each local education authority in England has been placed in the Libraries. School pupils have only exceptionally undertaken education in further education colleges and information for the amount spent on school pupils in further education is not available centrally. Further education colleges are not maintained by local education authorities.

Higher Education

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will increase the level of support available for those students in higher education who are on longer courses and those with higher equipment costs with specific reference to medicine and dentistry. [49806]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 17 April 2002]: Student support is already available for the full length of a designated undergraduate course regardless of the duration of the course. From 2002–03, in recognition that they need to study on longer courses, medical and dental students in their fifth and any subsequent years will receive from the Department of Health about half their support as non-repayable grants (with the remainder as loans from the Student Loans Company). Students on longer courses, including medical and dental students, are eligible to apply to their universities for additional £500 Hardship Loans and grants from the Hardship Fund.

Learning Difficulties

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what response she has made to the recent SKILL research, "Enhancing Quality of Life", on the extent of post-school education provision for people with profound and complex learning difficulties. [48810]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 17 April 2002]: My Department continues to work with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and other relevant agencies to develop appropriate responses to the issues raised by SKILL's research report. These include delivering the enhanced role for the Connexions service in transition planning for young people with learning difficulties; the introduction of flexible and innovative approaches to post-school provision; improved inter-agency collaboration in the design, management, delivery and funding of services through, for example, LSC involvement on Learning Disability Partnership Boards; and the implementation of the standards of care for learners in residential provision introduced by the Care Standards Act.

Dyslexia

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what percentage of children aged 14 to 18 years are known to have dyslexia; [49025]

(2) what records are kept by local education authorities on dyslexia; [49031]

18 Apr 2002 : Column 1127W

(3) what steps are taken by the Department to assess children for dyslexia; and at what ages the tests are carried out; [49032]

(4) what (a) research is being carried out into dyslexia and (b) grants are being given by the Government to research organisations with regard to dyslexia in 2002–03; [49035]

(5) how many children aged between 5 to 10 years in the United Kingdom have dyslexia and related learning problems. [49036]

Mr. Timms: As at January 2001, 1,002,000 pupils in English maintained primary schools and 668,000 pupils in English maintained secondary schools had special educational needs (SEN). Of these, 75,300 and 82,100 respectively had statements of SEN.

In addition, 91,000 pupils are in maintained special schools, 87,400 of whom have statements. Information by specific category of SEN is not currently collected but we have conducted a pilot exercise to explore the feasibility of further categorisation without overburdening schools and expect to phase in new arrangements by 2004.

When dealing with dyslexia and other SEN, schools and local education authorities in England are expected to follow the SEN Code of Practice, published last November. LEAs must also publish their general arrangements for identifying and supporting children with SEN. The precise details of arrangements made by LEAs and schools, including record keeping and assessment of needs within the context of the Code, are for local determination and this information is not collected centrally.

Working in conjunction with other interested parties, the Department is currently supporting the SPELL IT project, looking at the impact of structured intervention methods with seven year olds experiencing difficulty with reading. This project is due to report later this year. In 2002–04 we are also supporting research and development in relation to possible applications of jet pilot eye tracking technology as an aid to early identification of dyslexia.

Work-related Skills

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the £1 million allocated for the embedding of work related skills more widely in higher education provision has been allocated; and how the allocation for (a) entrepreneurial, (b) generic and (c) vocational skills is progressing. [49851]

Margaret Hodge: The £1 million will be allocated through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) between April 2002 and March 2004. We regard work related skills as embracing all three skill areas. This integrated approach to delivery means it is not possible to identify separate amounts for each area.

---