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25 Feb 2003 : Column 473W—continued

Temporary Classrooms

Mr Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many temporary classrooms there are in England. [98285]

Mr. Miliband: As part of the data collected through the appraisal of Asset Management Plans, the Department for Education and Skills has some information on the overall area of temporary accommodation at schools, but it is not possible from these data to identify with any precision the actual number of temporary classrooms.

Training Costs

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of the average cost to the public purse of (a) training a plumber, (b) training an electrician, (c) training a plasterer and (d) a degree course, broken down by further education colleges, universities and higher education institutions, for each parliamentary constituency and each local education authority area. [94703]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Publicly funded training of plumbers, electricians, plasterers and other craft occupations is usually provided through Modern Apprenticeships for young people or through programmes provided by further education institutions. Reporting on the costs of this learning is the operational responsibility of the Learning and Skills Council. I have asked John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to the hon. Member providing the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Figures for degree courses broken down in the way requested are not held centrally. For higher education in England, the Government allocates funding via the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The HEFCE provide teaching grants on the basis that similar courses are funded at similar rates irrespective of the type of institution providing the education. The detailed allocations are calculated according to the numbers and types of students in the institutions, and the courses they are taking. Different courses are weighted at different levels to reflect, for example, the higher costs of providing laboratory-based and medical courses. There are also adjustments made to the calculations to reflect London weighting, the additional costs of teaching students from disadvantaged backgrounds and mature and part-time students. The cost to the public purse of a degree course will therefore reflect these weightings and adjustments.

Tuition Fees

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the

25 Feb 2003 : Column 474W

proportion of full-time students who (a) are exempt from paying the full tuition fee of £1,100, (b) pay a proportion of the tuition fee and (c) pay the full tuition fee. [98448]

Mr. Charles Clarke: In Academic Year 2000/01 (the latest year for which data are available):

(a) 42 per cent. of students in England and Wales who were eligible to be assessed for student support were not required to make a payment to the fee contribution of £1,050, and


(b) 19 per cent. paid a proportion of the fee contribution, and


(c) 39 per cent. paid the full tuition fee contribution.

These figures are based on provisional 2000/01 data (published on 30 April 2002).

University Applications

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students applied to attend university in each of the last three years in (a) Lancashire and (b) the UK. [97411]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The latest available information is shown in the table.

Applicants to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses by area of home residence

	Year of entry
Students from:	2000	2001	2002
Lancashire	7,781	8,091	8,134
UK	389,091	399,645	401,854

Source:

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Vocational Skills

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made on developing a suite of qualifications which provide a progression route from entry level through to level three and which accredit vocationally related skills; and if she will make a statement. [98981]

Mr. Miliband: There are 129 entry level qualifications which provide progression to a variety of qualifications at level one. In addition there are 617 vocationally related qualifications at levels one to three currently accredited. Many of these qualifications form coherent and progressive suites covering all three levels. This position changes as new qualifications are accredited to meet the needs identified by sectors for workforce development.

Working Age Population (Qualifications)

Mr. Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the working age population had (a) no qualification and (b) no qualification above NVQ Level 2 in each region and nation of the UK in (i) 1992, 1997 and (iii) 2002. [98451]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 24 February 2003]: The information requested is presented in the following table:

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Table 1: The Level of Highest Qualification held by People of Working Age⁽³⁹⁾ in the UK and UK Countries and by Government Office Region (GOR). Labour Force Survey 1992, 1997 and 2002Percentage

	Above level 2(40)	Level 2(41)	Below level 2(42)	No qualifications	No qualifications above level 2
Autumn 2002
UK	44.4	21.9	19.2	14.5	55.6
NE	39.3	22.6	20.3	17.8	60.7
NW	42.2	22.5	18.5	16.8	57.8
Y&H	42.0	21.5	20.3	16.1	58.0
EM	41.9	22.3	20.2	15.6	58.1
WM	40.3	22.3	19.7	17.7	59.7
EE	41.3	23.9	21.3	13.5	58.7
LN	47.5	20.3	19.4	12.8	52.5
SE	48.8	21.9	19.1	10.1	51.2
SW	46.8	21.7	21.6	10.0	53.2
ENG	44.1	22.0	19.9	14.1	55.9
WAL	42.5	23.1	17.2	17.2	57.5
SCO	50.2	19.7	15.8	14.4	49.8
NIR	41.2	23.4	12.0	23.4	58.7
Autumn 1997
UK	38.7	22.3	21.6	17.4	61.3
NE	32.7	22.3	22.8	22.2	67.3
NW	38.0	22.3	21.6	18.1	62.0
Y&H	36.3	21.5	23.3	19.0	63.7
EM	36.3	21.8	22.6	19.3	63.7
WM	34.3	22.0	22.4	21.3	65.7
EE	36.2	24.7	23.7	15.5	63.8
LN	43.2	20.7	20.9	15.2	56.8
SE	42.0	22.9	22.1	13.0	58.0
SW	40.9	23.2	21.7	14.2	59.1
ENG	38.5	22.3	22.2	16.9	61.5
WAL	36.5	22.3	19.5	21.8	63.6
SCO	43.5	21.5	18.3	16.6	56.5
NIR	34.4	23.0	15.7	26.9	65.6
Autumn 1992
UK	30.7	22.0	21.2	26.1	69.3
NE	25.7	22.0	22.2	30.1	74.3
NW	28.2	22.3	21.4	28.1	71.8
Y&H	27.3	22.5	22.1	28.2	72.7
EM	26.1	21.6	21.8	30.5	73.9
WM	26.1	20.9	22.5	30.5	73.9
EE	29.4	23.8	23.7	23.1	70.6
LN	35.6	20.4	19.8	24.1	64.4
SE	33.8	23.1	22.4	20.6	66.2
SW	31.6	23.3	23.1	22.0	68.4
ENG	30.0	22.2	22.0	25.8	70.0
WAL	26.7	22.1	21.4	29.7	73.3
SCO	39.3	20.4	13.6	26.7	60.7
NIR	—	—	—	—	—

⁽³⁹⁾ Working Age is defined as males aged 16–64 and females aged 16–59.

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Qualifications above level 2 are as follows:

Level 5 includes Higher degrees and other qualifications at Level 5. Level 4 includes First degree. Other degree and sub-degree higher education qualifications such as teaching and nursing certificates HNC/HNDs, other HE diplomas and other qualifications at level 4. Level 3 includes Vocational qualifications include those with RSA Advanced Diploma. BTEC Nationals. ONC/ONDs. City and Guilds Advanced Craft or trade apprenticeships and other professional or vocational qualifications at Level 3. Academic qualifications include those with Advanced GNVQs. more than one GCE A level or SCE Highers/Scottish Certificates of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS) at Level 3.

⁽⁴¹⁾ Vocational qualifications include those with BTEC general certificates YT certificates, other RSA qualifications, other City and Guilds or other professional or vocational qualifications at Level 1 Academic qualifications include those with one or more GCSE grade G or equivalent (but less than five at grades A-C).

⁽⁴²⁾ Vocational qualifications include those with BTEC general certificates, YT certificates, other RSA qualifications, other City and Guilds or other professional or vocational qualifications at Level 1 Academic qualifications include those with one or more GCSE grade G or equivalent (but less than five at grades A*-C)

Note:

The Labour Force Survey was not conducted in Northern Ireland in Autumn 1992

Source:

Labour Force Survey (LFS): Autumn quarters 1992, 1997 and 2002

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