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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 1 July 2002
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Medical/Dental Education
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental education programmes include infection control and anti-microbial prescribing. [60790]
Margaret Hodge: Infection control and anti-microbial prescribing are included in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental education programmes in England, in line with the requirements of the competent authorities.
Higher Education Students
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of applicants for higher education places have come from low income families in each year since 1997. [60252]
Margaret Hodge: Information on applicants to full- time undergraduate courses in higher education is collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). UCAS does not collect any specific information about family income but rather assigns social class to applicants based upon the occupation of the parent with the highest income in the applicants household, as reported by the potential student. For applicants aged 21 or over, the occupation of the person contributing the highest income to the household is used.
UCAS data on people applying to enter higher education in 1997 to 2001 are shown in the table.
| Higher social class(1) | Lower social class(2) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 71 | 29 |
| 1998 | 71 | 29 |
| 1999 | 71 | 29 |
| 2000 | 71 | 29 |
| 2001 | 71 | 29 |
(1) Covers professional, intermediate and skilled (non-manual) social classes.
(2) Covers skilled (manual), partly skilled and unskilled social classes.
The Government are committed to raising the participation rates for people from less affluent family backgrounds, and has introduced Excellence Challenge, including the AimHigher campaign, which is targeted at raising attainment and aspirations among young people who traditionally would not consider going to university.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the higher education institutions showing the proportion of undergraduate students of each social class. [60254]
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Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 June 2002]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.
Further Education
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what levels of funding for Further Education will be given to Bridgwater College and Carrington College in the years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [65147]
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total budget is for Somerset in further education for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [65146]
Margaret Hodge: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. I have therefore asked John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and to place a copy of his reply in the Library.
Higher Education Funding Council
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the composition of the Higher Education Funding Council for England's settlement for the next financial year; and if she will calculate the current unit of funding per student in comparison with that apportioned in 1997. [65207]
Margaret Hodge: Publicly planned funding for higher education in 2003–04 was set out in the grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England issued in November 2001:
- Recurrent Funding—£5,650 million
Capital—£364 million
Access and Hardship—£115 million.
Capital Requirements
(Higher and Further Education)
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has (a) made and (b) commissioned of the capital requirements of (i) the higher education and (ii) the further education sectors. [64292]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 27 June 2002]: The capital requirements of the higher and further education sectors are part of the confidential advice offered to my right hon. friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). This advice has been informed by a number of reviews, including a review of the higher education estate by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors; a report by J. M. Consulting "Teaching and Learning Infrastructure in Higher Education" (HEFCE publication 2002/31); by a further review by J. M. Consulting, published in March 2002, reporting on investment in university research infrastructure, and by ongoing studies commissioned to
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examine Estate Management Statistics and compliance with the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act in Further Education.
Fee-paying Students
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made towards meeting the targets for the recruitment of international fee-paying students in the higher education and further education sectors under the Prime Minister's initiative; and what value has accrued to the United Kingdom economy from the campaign so far. [64680]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 27 June 2002]: Our targets are to attract 25,000 extra further education students and 50,000 extra higher education students from outside the EU by 2005 (compared to 1996–97). Based on actual figures for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland and an estimate for Wales, 46,609 students from non-EU countries took full-time courses at further education colleges in the UK in 2000–01, compared to 25,102 in 1996–97 The extra 21,500 students made an estimated fee and non-fee contribution to the UK economy in 2000–01 in the region of £215 million. The non-EU total for international students in full-time UK higher education has risen to 140,905 for 2001–02, compared to 109,940 in 1996–97. For 2001–02, the additional 30,965 students make an estimated fee and non-fee contribution to the UK economy broadly in the region of £480 million.
Departmental Expenditure Limit
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much and what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit for 2002–03 had been spent by 31 May; what the figures were for 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [61014]
Estelle Morris: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 June 2002, Official Report, column 130W.
Language Teaching
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the Government intend to improve provision for teaching (a) Spanish and (b) Mandarin at (i) pre-16 and (ii) post-16 level. [62462]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 18 June 2002]: The National Curriculum requires schools to offer at least one of the working languages of the European Union. Only when they have met this requirement may they offer non-European languages.
The Key Stage 3 National Strategy aims to achieve higher standards, good continuity, greater motivation and better learning in all subjects learnt by 11 to 14-year-olds, including modern foreign languages.
The Learning and Skills Council takes account of national, regional and local needs in deciding how to plan and fund all post-16 (excluding HE) modern foreign language learning. It is for individual universities and colleges to decide which subjects and courses they offer students, in the light of student demand.
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The Government will publish their national languages strategy in the autumn which will outline their plans for improving the language capability of people of all ages.
Examination Marking
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research has been undertaken by her to examine the quality and consistency of marking in public examinations. [63166]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The awarding bodies' arrangements for marking in public examinations are governed by a Code of Practice which is designed to ensure that standards are consistent within and across awarding bodies and over time. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for monitoring compliance with the Code of Practice. QCA conducts scrutinies in a range of subjects each year covering GCSE, GCE, VCE, and GNVQ qualifications. QCA publishes reports on its websites including reports on standards over time.
In 2000, the QCA set up an independent panel of advisers to review the adequacy of its quality assurance systems designed to maintain A-level standards. The panel reported to QCA early in 2002 with a firm endorsement of its quality assurance systems.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what statistics she collates on the number of students who have lost or had to postpone university places because the results of re-marked exam scripts arrived too late for consideration. [63176]
Margaret Hodge: This information is not collected centrally.
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