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Leicestershire Schools

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what proportion of Leicestershire schools were in each of the bandings for socio-economic circumstances in 2002–03; [125222]

(2) which schools in the Loughborough constituency were in each of the bandings for socio-economic circumstances in 2002–03. [125223]

Margaret Hodge: The percentages of maintained, mainstream schools in Leicestershire with KS1 and/or KS2 test results grouped according to the percentage of pupils "known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM)" as included within the national benchmarks information of the Department's 2002 Autumn Package of Pupil Performance Information are shown as follows:

Percentages

Band 1(Up to andincluding 8% FSM)	Band 2 (More than 8% and up to 20% FSM)	Band 3 (More than 20% and up to 35% FSM)	Band 4 (More than 35% and up to 50% FSM)	Band 5 (More than 50% FSM)
71	24	5	1	0

⁽²⁸⁾ Figures do not add to 100 because of rounding.

On the above definitional basis, schools in the Loughborough constituency within each of the FSM bands were:

FSM band	School name
3	Booth Wood Primary School
1	Burton-on-the Wolds Primary School
4	Cobden Primary School and Community Centre
1	Hall Orchard Church of England Primary School
1	Hathern Church of England Primary School
1	Highgate Community Primary School
1	Holywell Primary School
1	Loughborough Church of England Primary School
1	Mountfields Lodge School
2	Outwoods Edge Primary School
3	Redlands Community Primary School
3	Rendell Primary School
2	Robert Bakewell Primary School and Community Centre
2	Rosebery Primary School
1	Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Loughborough
1	Sant Winefride's Catholic Primary School, Shepshed
3	Shelthorpe Primary School Special Unit and Community Centre
1	Shepshed High School
1	St. Bartholomew CofE Primary School
2	St. Mary's Catholic Primary School
2	Stonebow Primary School
2	Thorpe Acre Junior School
1	Wymeswold Church of England Primary School

Level 2/3 Qualifications

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria will be applied for targeting support for level 3 qualifications (a) by sector and (b) by region. [126803]

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Mr. Ivan Lewis: Support for intermediate skills at level 3 will be focussed on those in priority sectors and to meet specific regional skills needs. Criteria for targeting the level 3 support will be determined in consultation with the Sector Skills Development Agency, the Learning and Skills Council and the Regional Development Agencies.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy to offer a renewed entitlement to free learning at level 2 to people whose previous skills have become obsolete. [126804]

Mr. Miliband: The entitlement to free provision for level 2 learning announced in the White Paper "21st Century Skills: Releasing Our Potential" is for those without a qualification at that level. Decisions about the use of public funds for learning in addition to the level 2 entitlement will take account of the needs of those without higher level technical and craft skills and people who are re-skilling for new careers or returning to the labour market. We will consider the question of issue of old or obsolete qualifications which will be examined as we implement the overall Skills Strategy.

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Media Training

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was to his Department of media and voice training for ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [123121]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: We have no record of any Minister in this Department receiving media or voice training since 1997.

We do not hold information centrally on any such training undertaken by officials and would only be able to collect it at a disproportionate cost.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, columns 677–68W, on medical schools, what additional funding is attracted by applicants for medical schools with the equivalent of (a) more and (b) less than 3 Cs at A level who attend the same medical schools. [125672]

Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocate funding for widening participation and improving retention by assigning students to one of six categories. There are two age categories (which relate to whether the student is under or over the age of 21), each of which is divided into three risk categories as follows:

	Young (under 21)	Mature (over 21)
Low risk	A-levels or Highers with at least 17 points: degree or higher	A-levels or Highers with at least 27 points: degree or higher
Medium risk	A-levels or Highers of 9 to 16 points; foundation courses; Baccalaureate	A-levels or Highers with less than 27 points; HE below degree level; foundation courses; access courses
High risk	Less than 9 A-level points; access course; BTEC; GNVQ level 3; HE below degree level; none; others; unknown.	BTEC; GNVQ level 3; Baccalaureate; none; others; unknown.

Students who are categorised as low risk do not attract additional widening participation and improving retention funding. The approximate additional funding attracted by the other categories is as follows:

	Young (under 21)	Mature (over 21)
Medium risk	250	370
High risk	370	620

Medical Schools

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, column 677–78W, on medical schools, how many of the medical students referred to attracted additional funding because their pre-entry qualifications are lower than the equivalent of three Cs at A level in each year since 1997; and how many mature entrants there were in each year since 1997. [125673]

Alan Johnson: Details of the number of entrants to higher education, broken down by subject of study, entry qualification and age are available in annexes to the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) publication "Performance Indicators in Higher Education".

Of the 2,900 medical students who attract additional funding from the improving retention pot for full-time students, some 480 do so because they are under 21 years of age and their points score is less than the equivalent of 3 Cs at A level.

The number of entrants to medicine, dentistry or veterinary science are shown in the table:

	Young entrants (under 21)	Mature entrants (over 21)
1997/98	5,540	1,250
1998/99	5,400	920
1999/2000	5,720	950
2000/01	5,900	1,210

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, columns 677–78W, on medical schools, what the (a) drop-out rate from medical schools and (b) drop-out rate from medical schools for students who attract additional funding because they have pre-entry qualifications lower than the equivalent of 3 Cs at A level were in each of the last five years. [125674]

Alan Johnson: In 1999/2000, the non-completion rate following year of entry for young students on medicine, dentistry or veterinary science courses was 2 per cent. This figure has remained broadly static since 1997/98. For students with the equivalent of less than 17 points at A level, the non-completion rate was 5 per cent. in 1999/2000.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications there were for each place at medical schools in the last year for which statistics are available; and what the average A level points score was of the successful candidates. [124170]

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Mr. Stephen Twigg: Figures available are from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and cover applications and acceptances for full-time entrants to first degree courses at UK institutions. Information covering entry in autumn 2002 is in the table.

Applicants⁽²⁹⁾ and acceptances to medical schools through UCAS by domicile, 2002 entry

	Applicants	Acceptances
Home	9,498	6,287
EU	666	142
Other overseas	1,771	530
All domiciles	11,935	6,959

⁽²⁹⁾ In 2002, each applicant could make up to 6 applications of which up to four could be to medical schools.

The figures show that there were 1.7 applicants for each medical school place.

The UCAS tariff was introduced for 2002 entry and replaced the 'A' level points score. The tariff establishes agreed equivalences between different types of qualifications and reports achievement for entry to Higher Education in a numerical format. This allows comparisons between applicants with different types and volumes of achievement. In 2002 the average tariff score relating to solely A level qualifications, for UK domiciled accepted applicants with 2 or more A levels was 405.6 (where an A grade at 'A' level is equivalent to 120 points and lower points scores relate to other grades).

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