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26 Apr 2004 : Column 816W—continued

University Students

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of students attending university were from each of the lowest two social classes in each of the last 10 years. [166733]

Alan Johnson: The available information is taken from the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and covers UK-domiciled applicants, accepted to full-time undergraduate courses. The method of calculating social class adopted for social class data for 2002 entry onwards is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Class (NS-SEC). Hence, proportions for 2002 entry and 2003 entry are not directly comparable to earlier years and have been given separately.
Proportion⁽⁴⁵⁾ of UK domiciled applicants, accepted through UCAS from each social class, 1994–2001 entry

	Year of entry
Social Class	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
I—Professional	16	16	16	15	15	15	14	14
II—Intermediate	44	43	44	44	44	44	44	44
IIIn—Skilled non manual	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14
IIIm—Skilled manual	17	18	17	17	17	17	17	18
IV—Partly skilled	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	8
V—Unskilled	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Combined groups: IV and V	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	10
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

⁽⁴⁵⁾ of those of known social class
Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service





 
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Proportion⁽⁴⁶⁾ of UK domiciled applicants, accepted through UCAS, from each social class, 2002–03 entry

	Year of entry
National Statistics Socio-Economic Class (NS-SEC)	2002	2003
1. Higher managerial and professional occupations	23	22
2. Lower managerial and professional occupations	31	31
3. Intermediate occupations	16	15
4. Small employers and own account workers	7	7
5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations	5	5
6. Semi-routine occupations	13	13
7. Routine occupations	6	6
Total	100	100

⁽⁴⁶⁾ of those of known social class
Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service




 
26 Apr 2004 : Column 818W
 

University Students (EU Member States)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many undergraduate students from other EU member states have been accepted at United Kingdom universities in each of the past 10 years. [166736]

Alan Johnson: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and cover EU domiciles accepted through UCAS to full-time first degree and HMD courses at UCAS member institutions in the UK. Early figures for 2004 entry show that EU applicants have risen by 14 per cent.
EU domiciles accepted through UCAS to UK institutions, 1994–2003 entry

	Year of entry
Domicile	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Austria(47)		78	132	208	176	193	189	198	179	201
Belgium	290	295	377	416	401	431	401	424	442	485
Denmark	128	148	207	279	259	269	272	269	285	251
Finland(47)		180	444	724	655	557	457	447	421	404
France	487	720	883	1,288	1,337	1,519	1,690	1,551	1,710	2,029
Germany	891	1,021	1,102	1,475	1,656	1,624	1,693	1,541	1,609	1,675
Gibraltar	132	192	152	175	203	177	220	160	156	158
Greece	2,207	3,448	4,947	5,804	5,565	5,046	4,005	2,721	2,081	1,690
Irish Republic	2,984	4,298	3,815	3,878	2,933	2,602	2,273	2,180	2,390	2.874
Italy	329	395	414	538	572	645	499	496	505	510
Luxembourg	89	111	103	143	163	176	188	167	162	174
Netherlands	210	224	233	237	250	245	268	242	284	340
Portugal	134	177	242	287	269	313	304	313	321	356
Spain	371	464	521	617	659	788	674	693	720	742
Sweden(47)		213	365	674	791	936	913	773	727	683
Total EU	8,252	11,964	13,937	16,743	15,889	15,521	14,046	12,175	11,992	12,572

⁽⁴⁷⁾ Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995.
Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Urban Education Projects

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his policy is on Urban Education projects, with particular reference to the St. Cuthbert's Care project in Byker. [166538]

Margaret Hodge: There is no policy on Urban Education projects as such. This Department supports education initiatives in a wide range of settings and for diverse client groups, and the Children's Fund supports well over four thousand projects for children and young people. Newcastle Children's Fund Partnership has provided over £85,000 to the St. Cuthbert's Urban Education project between 2002–2004. Following a competitive application process against a range of criteria, the Partnership decided not to fund the project in 2004–05.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Academic Selection

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the alternative forms of academic selection to the 11-plus assessed by the Department of Education in the last year. [166713]

Mr. Gardiner: The Post-Primary Review Working Group considered alternative forms of academic selection but concluded that no alternative form of testing, or teacher assessment, would be any less problematical than the current arrangements; that age 11 is too early to commit pupils to particular pathways and that it is unsound to believe that the more able should follow only academic type courses.

Assembly Elections (Malpractice)

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Electoral Office has received complaints about malpractice following the latest Assembly Elections in Northern Ireland. [168300]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Electoral Officer has received one complaint about malpractice following the Assembly Elections in November. However, it could not be fully investigated as no evidence to substantiate the complaint was provided.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what plans he has to designate the Home Office under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, with particular reference to functions in relation to asylum seekers and refugees; [165819]
 
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(2) what plans he has to (a) designate Work Permits UK under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and (b) provide that the collection and reporting of statistics on work permits be subject to the public equity duty. [165820]

Mr. Spellar: The Home Secretary has advised me that in his view designation would have a serious and adverse effect on the work of his department, which includes Work Permits UK, specifically on the work of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. For that reason I accept his view that designation of the Home Office would not be appropriate. Wherever possible the Home Office is working within the spirit of the legislation.

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training student teachers receive on the needs of children with autistic spectrum disorders. [167722]

Mr. Gardiner: There is a comprehensive range of core competences to be covered by student teachers during their Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses when most of a student's time is spent on school placement.

As such, special educational needs provision mainly covers the recognition of pupils' special needs and focuses on strategies to meet those needs. Current ITE provision is, nevertheless, under review with the intention of developing approaches which match, more closely, the needs of teachers entering the profession.

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