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1 Sept 2003 : Column 758W—continued
Secondary and Post-secondary Education
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets the Government has set (a) institutions and (b) students regarding state secondary schools and post-secondary education; and what representations his office has received regarding compliance with and attainment of those targets. [126889]
Margaret Hodge: We set high level national targets which reflect our overall aim for both secondary and post-secondary education achievement. These provide a framework for targets to be determined for institutions and students by those working at the local level. All our national targets and progress against them can be found
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in the Departmental Annual Report, copies of which can be found in the House of Commons Library. The Department receives representations covering a wide range of different views on the purpose, importance, choice and definition of targets.
Sex Education
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list (a) local education authorities and (b) schools where allegations of inappropriate sex education have been reported in each of the past two years. [124357]
Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 9 July 2003]: In the past two years, the Department has received letters expressing concerns over sex education in Leeds and Barking and Dagenham. In each case the correspondents were advised that headteachers and governors are responsible for making decisions about sex education in schools, in consultation with parents. In the first instance concerns should be raised with the schools. Governing bodies must ensure that teaching materials and programmes used for sex education are in accordance with the framework for Personal, Social and Health Education; and that inappropriate materials are kept out of the classroom. Consulting pupils and their families will help establish what is appropriate and acceptable to them. Where schools work within the SRE guidelines and consult effectively, parents should be reassured about the content of lessons.
SMEs
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when tailored support for leadership and management development in small and medium enterprises will be available. [126784]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The success of small and medium enterprises depends on excellent leadership and management. The Business Improvement Tool for Entrepreneurs and Investors in People management and leadership model help these businesses identify development goals. Our pilot Small Firms Development Account will provide specific funding support up to £1,000 for owner-managers of enterprises employing five to 49 people to develop leadership and management skills within their company. We are also developing a new offer to Managing Directors of firms employing 50 to 200 people to provide them with tailored support. A range of support will be available including mentors and coaches. We will announce further details of this offer in the autumn.
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Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003 (a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisors have travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [126674]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003, Special Advisers in my Department travelled abroad on three occasions to Italy, Germany and France, at an average cost of £522.66 per trip. All travel by Special Advisers is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Specialist Schools
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what resources will be available for the proposed expansion of the specialist schools programme; and what projects he has planned for schools in Hampshire. [126183]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In November 2002 the Government lifted the cap on national funding for the specialist schools programme so that any school which meets the required standard can now be a specialist school. We are keen that all secondary schools that want to apply and meet the criteria will become specialist schools.
Also in November, the Government announced the creation of the partnership fund, containing £2 million from the Government and £1 million from the private sector to be administered by the Specialist Schools Trust. The fund is designed specifically to help schools which have been unable to raise all of the required £50,000 sponsorship money, despite having made sustained efforts to do so.
We would encourage Hampshire schools, as indeed we would all schools, to take advantage of these developments.
Staff Costs
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 2 July 2003, Official Report, columns 295–96W, on staff costs, what the average A/AS level score for pupils attending (a) sixth form colleges and (b) secondary school sixth forms in England in each year since 1995 was; and if he will make a statement on the statistical significance of divergences between the averages. [124220]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the tables.
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintained schools | 15.4* | 16.1* | 16.4* | 16.7* | 16.9 | 17.1 | 17.4* | — |
| 6th Form colleges | 14.8* | 15.3* | 16.0* | 16.4* | 16.9 | 17.0 | 17.9* | — |
| All schools | 16.9 | 17.6 | 17.9 | 18.1 | 18.2 | 18.4 | 18.9 | — |
| All FE sector | 12.2 | 12.5 | 13.1 | 10.4 | 13.4 | 13.8 | 14.8 | — |
| Total | 15.1 | 15.7 | 16.1 | 16.0 | 16.3 | 16.7 | 17.4 | — |
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintained schools | — | — | — | — | — | — | 235.8* | 263.3 |
| 6th Form colleges | — | — | — | — | — | — | 242.0* | 263.1 |
| All schools | — | — | — | — | — | — | 251.9 | 280.9 |
| All FE sector | — | — | — | — | — | — | 196.7 | 210.6 |
| Total | — | — | — | — | — | — | 232.5 | 254.5 |
Note:
In 2002, the number of points assigned to each GCE/VCE A/AS qualification and VCE Double Award changed to reflect the UCAS tariff. Figures for 2001 are provided on both bases.
An asterisk (*) in the table indicates that the differences between performance averages of maintained schools and Sixth Form Colleges are statistically significant at a 95 per cent. level. Differences between schools and colleges in their number and circumstance and differences within institutions in terms of student composition have not been taken into account in determining statistical significance.
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Student Debt
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of student debt was in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and what projections he has made for each year up to 2010. [126815]
Alan Johnson: Borrowers are liable to repay their loans from the April following graduation or otherwise leaving their course. Students who started their course from the 1998/99 academic year will repay income contingent loans. Loans for those who started their course before 1998/99 are repayable on a mortgage style basis. The table shows estimates of average student loan debt at the point at which they entered repayment status for borrowers who became liable to repay their loans in financial years 2000–01 to 2002–03.
New student support arrangements were introduced from academic year 1998/99. Most new students in that year (apart from specified exceptions) received support for maintenance expenditure through means-tested grants (about 25 per cent. of the support available) and non means-tested student loans (about 75 per cent. of the support). From 1999/2000, students who entered higher education after 1998/99 received support for maintenance expenditure through loans. About three quarters of the value of these loans is not subject to means-testing. The repayments on these loans are on an income contingent basis.
Students who started their course up to 1997/98, and those who entered in 1998/99 under the existing arrangements, are eligible for mortgage style loans; the ratio of support for these students is roughly 50 per cent. means-tested grant and 50 per cent. non means-tested loan.
The first cohort of students on a three-year degree course who entered higher education under the new student support arrangements became liable for repayment in April 2002. That, and earlier, cohorts includes a disproportionate number of students on shorter courses as well as those who have left higher education before completing their courses. Therefore the average level of debt will not be representative of the average debt experienced by those who complete their courses.
(30) Data rounded to nearest 10. Includes Interest.
(31) Excludes any repayments which may have been made before borrowers enter repayment status.
(32) Borrowers enter repayment status in the April following their graduation or otherwise leaving their course.
(33) Loans made to students who entered higher education up to 1997/98 or who entered in 1998/99 under existing arrangements. Includes loans repayable to the private sector following the sale of two portfolios of student loans.
(34) Loans, repayable on an income contingent basis, available to students who entered higher education from academic year 1998/99. These loans were subject to a repayment holiday until April 2000. Includes hardship loans and the fixed rate loans (£500) to eligible part-time students.
Source:
Student Loans Company
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Data on debts for which there is no public subsidy, such as overdrafts and credit cards, and informal debts to family and friends, are not held centrally.
Future student debt will depend on a range of factors, including the amount of loan students take out. After 2005/06, debt will be influenced by the borrowing behaviour of those students eligible for the HE grant. After 2006/07, student debt will also depend on the fee levels charged by universities to their full-time undergraduates, and the extent to which those students exercise the new option to defer those fees.
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