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GCSEs

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether parts of the course content for GCSE qualifications in (a) home economics and (b) design technology are replicated in the course content for the GCSE in food technology. [4844]

Bill Rammell: GCSEs exist in Home Economics (food and nutrition) and Design Technology (food technology). The focus of each specification is very different. Design and Technology (food technology) covers food materials and components; food product design; development and market influences; and food process and product manufacture.

Home Economics (food and nutrition) looks at nutrition in relation to the preparation and cooking of food; the relationship between nutrition and good health; and the effect of the marketing and advertising of food products on consumer choice.
 
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Graduate Earnings

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what research she has collated on the lifetime levels of earnings of (a) graduates and (b) non-graduates; [4209]

(2) if she will make a statement on the recent research findings at Swansea University that graduates can expect to earn £140,000 more over their lifetimes compared with non-graduates. [4208]

Bill Rammell: Data on lifetime earnings are rare, but we do impute such information from cross-section data sets. The following table shows gross weekly average earnings for graduates and non-graduates, by age bands. It demonstrates that the premium rises with age, as a degree opens doors to promotion and progression over the working life which are closed to non-graduates.

	First/foundation degree (£)	Level 3 and below (£)	Percentage difference
20–24	356	283	26
25–29	472	354	34
30–34	612	422	45
35–39	728	445	64
40–44	780	434	80
45–49	719	433	66
50–54	768	406	89
55–59	726	385	89
Total working age	610	388	57

Source:
Winter 2004 LFS. Gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in England.

We prefer to present this type of data in another format—most importantly using an accounting technique to express the benefit to a degree at today's valuation, and stripping out any other effects not related to the qualification itself.

In doing so, the average lifetime financial benefit to a degree, compared to holders of A-levels as their highest qualification, is £120,000 in present value terms—as outlined in a previous written answer to the House (PQ140797, 8 December 2003).

This is entirely consistent with the University of Wales' research. It represents a strong financial benefit to university education, and provides a clear message that employers need graduates and the extra productivity and innovation that they bring to the economy.

Higher Education

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Education and Skills what progress has been made towards achieving the target of 50 per cent. of all 18 to 30-year-olds going on to higher education by 2010. [3980]

Bill Rammell: The Department measures progress on its target of increasing participation in higher education towards 50 per cent. of those aged 18 to 30 by 2010 through the higher education initial participation rate (HEIPR). The HEIPR has risen from 41 per cent. in 1999–2000 to 43 per cent.(provisionally) in 2003–04.
 
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Further information on the HEIPR is available in DfES Statistical First Release 14/2005 Participation Rates in Higher Education: Academic Years 1999/2000–2003/04 (Provisional)" published on 14 April 2005 and available from the House of Commons Library.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of individuals who entered higher education came from each social class in each of the past 10 years for which figures are available. [3221]

Bill Rammell: The latest available information showing the proportion of young (under 21) people from each social class who enter higher education is shown in the table. The Government are committed to widening participation in higher education (HE). The Aimhigher Programme, alongside, from 2006, grants and higher education institution bursaries for students from poorer backgrounds, will enable a wider range of people to be able and willing to enter HE.
Age Participation Index (API)⁽¹³⁾ by social class Percentage

	Social class
Year of entry	I	II	IIIn	IIIm	IV	V	I-IIIn	IIIm-V
1991	55	36	22	11	12	6	35	11
1992	71	39	27	15	14	9	40	14
1992	73	42	29	17	16	11	43	16
1994	78	45	31	18	17	11	46	17
1995	80	46	31	18	17	12	47	17
1996	82	47	32	18	17	13	48	18
1997	79	48	31	19	18	14	48	18
1998	72	45	29	18	17	13	45	17
1999	73	45	30	18	17	13	45	17
2000	76	48	33	19	19	14	48	18
2001	79	50	33	21	18	15	50	19

⁽¹³⁾The Age Participation index (API) is defined as the number of home domiciled young (aged less than 21) initial entrants to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses expressed as a proportion of the averaged 18 to 19-year-old GB population. The Age Participation Index has been superseded by the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) which measures the participation of 18 to 30-year-olds, and in 2002 the social class categories were replaced by a new socio-economic group (SEG) classification. The Department has commissioned a report to look at disaggregating the HEIPR by SEG Class, or recommend other alternatives if this is not possible.
Note:
The percentages in the table represent the proportions of students from each given social class who enter HE. (The individual percentages in each column will not therefore sum to 100 per cent.)
I—Professional
II—Intermediate
IIIn—Skilled (non-manual)
IIIm—Skilled (manual)
IV—Partially skilled
V—Unskilled.

Literacy

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of literacy standards in primary schools. [4747]

Jacqui Smith: Literacy standards in primary schools are the highest that they have ever been. Last year 78 per cent. of 11-year-olds reached the expected level for their
 
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age in English Key Stage 2 tests. This represents an increase of 15 percentage points since 1997. In the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) published in 2003, England's 10-year-olds achieved the third highest scores in reading of the 35 countries which took part.

Public Bodies

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the planned (a) staff numbers, (b) resource budget and (c) administration costs of the (i) Learning and Skills Council and (ii) Office of Fair Access are for each year between 2005 and 2010. [3981]

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council's estimated staffing requirement for 2005–06 is 4,230. Staffing numbers have not yet been agreed for the following years, but the LSC will meet its efficiency targets.

The current budgets allocated to the LSC are provided in the following table. The LSC has in place measures to achieve a planned reduction in administration costs to meet their contribution to the 15 per cent. efficiency savings required across government.
Learning and Skills Council budgets 2005–08 £000

	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08
Resource budget (excluding administration)	9,766,668	9,339,696	9,821,463
Administration	250,609	248,179	235,444
Total	10,017,277	9,587,875	10,056,907

Notes:
1.The 2005–06 LSC budget was updated in a letter to the LSC on 13 April 2005.
2.Budgets for 2006–07 and 2007–08 were set out in the Grant Letter from the Secretary of State to the LSC on 15 November 2004.
3.The LSC's administration costs include funding for Depreciation and Cost of Capital that in previous years were held centrally in DfES.

Budgets for 2008–09 and 2009–10 will be set as part of the next spending review.

The Office of Fair Access has a budget of up to £500,000 for 2005–06 from which it meets its administration costs and performs its statutory functions. Plans for future years will be set in consultation with the Director of Fair Access.

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