| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Dec 2005 : Column 946W—continued
Higher Education
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what was the proportion of students on higher education courses from social groups (a) D and (b) E in each year since 1997. [24545]
Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on the social background of students entering higher education are given in the following tables. The categories used to measure social background were revised in 2002/03: the socio-economic group classification was introduced to replace the social class groupings, but the two classifications are not directly comparable.
(13)Based on those students who provided details of their social background. In each of these years, around 15 per cent. of students did not provide details of their background.
Source:
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
(14)Based on those students who provided details of their social background. In each of these years, around 20 per cent. of students did not provide details of their background.
Source:
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the new funding that will be provided for higher education in September 2006 she expects will be spent on staff salaries. [32759]
Bill Rammell: Universities are autonomous and responsible for determining their own academic and administrative affairs, including deciding what to pay their own staff. Pay and conditions of service are subject to negotiations between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. The Government play no part in this.
There are many reasons underlying our higher education reforms, of which the variable fees policy forms a part: one is to provide institutions with a secure income stream, which is under their own control. The Government are not in the business of micro-managing how institutions' fee income is spent; institutions are best placed to make these decisions—including, for
5 Dec 2005 : Column 947W
example, how much to put into student bursaries, to enable more students to participate in HE, and how much to put into staff pay and conditions. They will also want to consider how best to invest in their infrastructure to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's learners. Only institutions can sensibly decide on the balance between different priorities, in the light of their individual circumstances.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets she has set for participation rates in (a) higher education and (b) first degree courses for each year to 2015. [34232]
Bill Rammell: The participation target we have set is to make progress towards 50 per cent. of 18–30 year olds having had experience of higher education by 2010.
We report regularly on progress against this target, but we do not have interim targets for the years leading up to 2010. We do not have a target for participation rates for later years.
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills under which category in band B of the Learning and Skills Council budget the Union Learning Fund comes. [31261]
Bill Rammell: The £12.5 million funds for the Union Learning Fund are included in the overall £76.744 million Capacity and Infrastructure line of Block B of the LSC Grant letter for 2006–07.
Maladministration
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many payments for maladministration have been made by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies, (c) its non-departmental public bodies and (d) other bodies for which her Department has responsibility in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [32243]
Bill Rammell: It is the policy of the Department for Education and Skills, its non-departmental public bodies and its sponsored organisations to make financial redress in accordance with the guidance set out in Chapter 18.7 and Annexes 18.1 and 18.2 of Government Accounting."
However, the information you requested is not held centrally by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list her Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies which the Government are required (a) to consult prior to legislative proposals and (b) to publish any response to advice received from such bodies. [20143]
Bill Rammell:
My Department sponsors three advisory non-departmental public bodies: the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy (IAGTP), the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) and the Teachers' TV Board of Governors. The Government are not required to consult any of them
5 Dec 2005 : Column 948W
prior to legislative proposals. The Government are not required to but does respond to advice from the IAGTP and STRB. It is also expected that the Teachers' TV Board of Governors will publish the response to its advice following the publication of its first annual report at the end of 2005.
Science Graduates
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many students have graduated in (a) chemistry, (b) physics and (c) mathematics or further mathematics in each year since 1990; [32624]
(2) what assessment she has made of the impact of trends in the numbers of physics and chemistry graduates on (a) science and technology industries and (b) the teaching profession. [32626]
Bill Rammell: The table shows the annual number of first degree qualifiers in the Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from 1989/90 to the latest available data. Please note discontinuities in the time-series at 2000/01 and 2002/03, as explained in the table notes.
(15)Figures up to and including 1993/94 cover full-time and sandwich qualifiers at English and Welsh polytechnics (1993/94 covers English polytechnics only) and qualifiers from universities in Great Britain. Figures for 1994/95 onwards cover all UK HE institutions.
(16)Figures from 1994/95 to 1999/2000 exclude qualifications obtained from students studying on dormant modes of study. Figures for 2000/01 onwards include these students.
(17)Figures for 2001/02 and earlier are based upon the major subject of the qualification. For 2002/03 onwards, figures by subject are apportioned between the subjects studied.
Source:
Universities Statistical record (USR), AGCAS Polytechnic Statistics Working group and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
A review by Sir Gareth Roberts 1 demonstrated skill shortages within the science and technology industries and in response we have launched the 10-year science and innovation investment framework with the specific aim of attracting more students into science and engineering. The first annual report was published in July.
5 Dec 2005 : Column 949W
Falling numbers of chemistry and physics graduates may also have contributed to higher-than-average vacancy rates for science teachers 2 . In response, science graduates studying for Postgraduate Certificates of Education are now eligible for training bursaries of £7,000 starting courses in 2005, which will rise to £9,000 for those starting in 2006. If they go on to teach science in a maintained school they become eligible after completing their induction for a 'golden hello' of £5,000.
As stated at the recent evidence session on strategic science provision, we have noted HEFCE's advice that university science departments are not in crisis. In fact provisional UCAS data on 2005/06 entry indicates that there is a higher than average increase of 10 per cent.+ in the number of students entering science (including physics and chemistry), technology, engineering and mathematics. However, we are not complacent and we will keep this under review to see if more action is needed.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |