| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Feb 2003 : Column 352W—continued
Stage 3/GCSE
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of in-school variation on value added standards of achievement at key stage 3 and GCSE. [96714]
Mr. Miliband: There is evidence of wide variation in pupil progress in schools. The Department plans to publish a Statistical Bulletin later this year analysing value added at each key stage by pupil characteristics. This will for the first time link the new Pupil Level Annual School Census data with value added data.
Student Loans
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of the annual cost of the collection of student loan repayments; what sum is paid by his Department to the Inland Revenue for this work; and if he will make a statement. [95379]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 3 February 2003]: There are two types of student loan. Borrowers under the pre-1998–99 scheme of mortgage style loans repay their loans direct to the Student Loans Company (SLC). Most borrowers under the current income-contingent loans scheme repay their loans through the tax system.
The SLC will spend around £12 million in the 2002–03 financial year on collecting repayments on mortgage style student loans not sold to the private sector, and on those income-contingent loans not collected by the Inland Revenue—voluntary repayments and repayments from borrowers outside the UK. The Inland Revenue is expected to charge around £1.9 million for collecting income-contingent loan repayments through the tax system in 2002–03. These costs are shared between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Study Support Schemes
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research has been commissioned by his Department to assess the benefits of youth action groups established with funding through partnerships of study support schemes; whether youth action groups have helped to reduce anti-social behaviour in school age children; and if he will make a statement. [98185]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Partners for Study Support scheme is being evaluated by the University ofSunderland and their report will be published in April 2003. Only one of the 134 projects funded through this scheme involved youth action groups. Crime-reduction projects in other school-related schemes are being evaluated as part of those schemes.
Teacher Vacancies (Portsmouth, South)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Portsmouth, South in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98097]
24 Feb 2003 : Column 353W
Mr. Miliband: Vacancy figures are available only at local authority level. The table provides information available for Portsmouth LEA since it was created in April 1997.
| January | Teachers(85) | Vacancies(86) | Vacancy Rate(87)(percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1,220 | 23 | 1.9 |
| 1999 | 1,390 | 16 | 1.2 |
| 2000 | 1,310 | 19 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | 1,330 | 59 | 4.5 |
| 2002 | 1,250 | 35 | 2.8 |
(85) Full-time teachers in post in the maintained schools sector.
(86) Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration) in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools. Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis.
(87) Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post.
Source:DfES annual 618 survey
Training and Skills (Financial Support)
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much financial support he is giving in 2002–03 for training and skills in (a) rural and (b) urban areas. [98305]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Tuition Fees
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the additional income that would be raised by increasing the payment towards tuition fees under the existing arrangements to £1,500 per annum. [96394]
Margaret Hodge: Assuming that the means tested element of tuition fees for Academic Year 2002/03 had been set at £1,500 rather than £1,100, we estimate that English Higher Education Institutions would have received additional fee income of £310 million in the Financial Year 2002–03, made up from
- (i) approximately £160 million of public contributions and,
(ii) approximately £150 million of private contributions.
These estimates are based on projections of student numbers for 2002/03 derived from actual data for academic year 2000/01. Private contributions have been estimated from 2000/01 LEA income assessment data and assumed growth rates in annual earnings.
- 1 Residual Income is gross income less the allowances detailed in my Department's guidance, "Financial Support for Higher Education Students"
24 Feb 2003 : Column 354W
- 2 £20,480 for dependent students and £17,715 for independent in 2002/03.
Universities (Access)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he will ensure students will not be excluded from universities who charge higher tuition fees. [97414]
Margaret Hodge: Any university which wishes to charge variable fees will be required to have an Access Agreement which will be approved and monitored by the Access Regulator. The Regulator will monitor admission arrangements to ensure they promote fair access and will seek to extend current good practice through, for example, bursary schemes. The maximum fee will be capped in real terms for the duration of the next Parliament at £3,000. Additionally no student or family will have to pay fees before or while they are studying. Students will be able to defer their fees as for the current maintenance loans. No interest above inflation will be charged on either loans for maintenance or fees, and the threshold at which repayment starts will be raised to £15,000 to make repayment easier for everyone. Students from low income backgrounds will be eligible to have up to £1,100 of their fees paid, and student grants of £1,000 will also be introduced for those from low income families.
University Entrants
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the number of students expected to enter university in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [98062]
Margaret Hodge: The latest data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show UK and overseas applicants for entry into English universities are up by 1.7 per cent. from 300,000 in 2002–03 to 305,000 in 2003–04. These are very early figures as the applications cycle is only just beginning, but we welcome the increase in applicants. It is too early to say what the final picture will be as it is final acceptance figures, not early application figures, which are the most important indicator of entry to HE.
Detailed estimates of the number of students expected to enter university in 2004–05 are not available.
Vocational Training
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 98W, on vocational training, if he will set out his plans for the programme to ensure two weeks of work experience with employers or other organisations is available for all pupils in Key Stage 4. [96764]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Over 95 per cent. of school pupils already undertake work experience placements in their last years of compulsory schooling to develop the skills and attitudes essential for the world of work. About 75 per cent. of these placements are for two weeks or longer. The Department provides £25 million a year, via the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), for school/business links activities. Around £10 million goes towards the costs of the work experience programme,
24 Feb 2003 : Column 355W
which aims to ensure that all Key Stage 4 pupils can undertake at least two weeks' high quality work experience. In addition, a range of guidance and support is provided by the Department and the LSC to help local partners meet this objective. Independent evaluations of work experience show that placements are generally satisfactory and well-received by schools, pupils and employers.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |