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11 Mar 2004 : Column 1730W—continued
European School, Culham
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the European Parliament resolution on the future financing of the European Schools (2002–2083 (INI)), with regard to the European School at Culham. [160266]
Alan Johnson: The future financing of the European School at Culham is the subject of an independent review as a direct result of the European Commission's intention to withdraw support from smaller European Schools. Decisions on the future of Culham will be taken by the European Schools Governing Body on the basis of this review.
Further Education
Mr. Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) applicants and (b) entrants to each university in England were from (i) further education colleges, (ii) sixth-form colleges, (iii) school sixth-forms and (iv) independent schools in (A) 2001 and (B) 2002. [143642]
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Alan Johnson: The information is not held centrally. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) collects data on the previous school type of applicants and acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses but does not release this data at institutional level without the prior permission of the institutions.
However, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) publishes data annually showing the proportion of entrants to each university and HE college who come from state schools or colleges. This is contained in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", the latest edition of which is available from the House Library.
Gap Year Students
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of A-level students who took a year off study before beginning a university course in each year since 1990. [152003]
Alan Johnson: The available information comes from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and covers deferred entry for 18-year-old, full-time, accepted applicants to first degree and HND study in the UK. Figures are in the table. Students who defer their application to UCAS because they are taking a gap year are therefore excluded.
Source:
UCAS
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Higher Education
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of students in higher education institutions are not studying for degree courses. [152685]
Alan Johnson: In 2002–03, 47 per cent. of all HE enrolments to UK HE institutions were for courses other than first degrees. Figures are given in the table.
| Level | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 414,250 | 21 |
| First Degree | 1,075,070 | 53 |
| Other Undergraduate | 530,860 | 26 |
| All | 2,020,180 | 100 |
Source:
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 18-year-olds entered full-time higher education in (a) North East Lincolnshire and (b) North Lincolnshire in each year since 1990. [153598]
Alan Johnson: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) applicants accepted to full time first degree and HND courses. Information prior to 1994 entry is not available at local education authority level. Figures are given in the table.
| Year of Entry | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEA | (42)1994 | (42)1995 | (42)1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| North East Lincolnshire | - | - | - | 15.3 | 14.7 | 15.3 | 15.2 | 16.0 | 14.5 |
| North Lincolnshire | - | - | - | 20.2 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 21.3 | 18.2 | 18.6 |
| Humberside | 15.1 | 16.5 | 16.8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
(42) Prior to 1997, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire were contained within Humberside LEA along with the City of Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire.
Isle of Wight College
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the quality of provision by the Isle of Wight college since publication of the statement by the Baroness Blackstone contained in the Department of Education and Skills press notices 1999/0212. [160272]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 10 March 2004]: The Isle of Wight College recovery plan has been effectively implemented and the college now offers good quality courses across a wide provision to serve the needs of the local community. The college was inspected under the Common Inspection Framework in October 2003 and the inspectors judged that of the nine areas of learning delivered by the college, three were satisfactory, five were good and one outstanding. Leadership and management of the college was also judged to be good. The college has also recently been recognised as a Centre of Vocational Excellence for hospitality and catering.
Language Teaching
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many staff teaching English in secondary schools (a) for part of their time and (b) full-time do not have a first degree in English; [159820]
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- (2) how many staff teaching modern foreign languages in secondary schools (a) full-time and (b) for part of their time do not have a first degree in a foreign language; [159821]
(3) what the vacancy level for teachers of modern foreign languages is. [159822]
Mr. Miliband: Information on subject teaching is not available in the form requested. Similar information is available in 'Statistics of Education: School Workforce in England, 2003 Edition'. This can be found in the Library or at the following link: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsqatewav/DBA/OL/v000443/index.shtml. The level of qualifications teachers hold in the subjects they teach is shown in Table 24. The percentage of periods they provide in those subjects is shown in Table 25.
In January 2003, the vacancy rate for all languages in secondary schools in England was 1.1 per cent. Modern foreign languages cannot be separately identified.
Learning Difficulties
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in the United Kingdom had learning difficulties in each year since 1995. [158325]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Labour Force Survey (LFS) collects information on the long-term health conditions and impairments of working age adults. LFS estimates of those who have a current long-term impairment and whose main condition is a severe or specific learning difficulty are shown in the table below for each autumn since 1998. Comparable estimates are not available prior to 1998.
| Autumn of each year | Thousand | Percentage of workingage population |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 128 | 0.35 |
| 1999 | 150 | 0.41 |
| 2000 | 153 | 0.42 |
| 2001 | 149 | 0.40 |
| 2002 | 187 | 0.50 |
| 2003 | 159 | 0.43 |
(43) Working age is defined as men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.
(44) People are defined as disabled if they have a long-standing illness significantly limiting their day-to-day activities and/or they have work-limiting disability.
(45) Main health condition is a severe or specific learning difficulty.
Source:
UK, Labour Force Survey
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the school population is categorised as having (a) severe and (b) moderate learning difficulties; and what proportion is in special schools in each case. [159389]
Margaret Hodge: The Department of Education and Skills began collecting data on pupils' type of special educational need from January 2004. It is not possible
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to provide information on the proportion of the school population with severe or moderate learning difficulties until the data have been collated. We expect it to become available in the summer.
Information about the provision being made for pupils with statements of special educational need is collected from local authorities each year. In January 2003, 37.5 per cent. of pupils with a statement of special educational need were being educated in maintained, non-maintained or independent special schools.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department provides for projects to train people with learning difficulties. [156021]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There is no specific funding for such projects. Rather, training and education for people with learning difficulties is funded from the overall budget (£8.1 billion in 2003–04) which my Department allocates to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in order to carry out its education and training remit for young people and adults. Within this overall budget the LSC will spend £105 million this year on specialist residential college placements and considerably more supporting learners with learning difficulties in mainstream provision.
The Government have strengthened the rights of people with learning difficulties to appropriate post-16 provision through a combination of legislative change and collaborative work with key organisations representing disabled learners. Under Section 13 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, the LSC has a specific responsibility to help young people and adults with learning difficulties. Although the LSC does not develop policies relating to specific groups of learners, its broad remit means that it can fund a wide range of provision to ensure these learners have access to suitable provision which meets their needs and, where appropriate, the additional support they require to undertake it.
The LSC has established a Forum on Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities to ensure that inclusive learning is at the heart of its policies and processes. Membership includes representatives from Government, external representative bodies and learners with learning difficulties. The LSC also participates in local Learning Disability Partnership Boards, with the Department of Health and other partner agencies, to improve local inter-agency working.
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