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20 Feb 2007 : Column 676W—continued


20 Feb 2007 : Column 677W

Correspondence

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to reply to question 115962, tabled on 17 January 2007. [118178]

Mr. Dhanda: I replied to the hon. Lady’s question 115962 on 19 January 2007, Official Report, columns 1387-388W.

Curriculum: History

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans his Department has to reform the national curriculum in history; and if he will make a statement. [121168]

Jim Knight: At the request of Government, the QCA is carrying out a review of the secondary curriculum to reduce prescription, improve coherence and create further opportunities for schools to meet the needs of their pupils. A formal consultation on the new secondary curriculum began on 5 February 2007 and will run until 30 April 2007. Revised programmes of study will be available to schools for planning purposes in September 2007, with implementation beginning in September 2008.

While our overall intention is to increase flexibility for schools and teachers, the new draft history curriculum for Key Stage 3 (11-14) includes proposals for the slave trade and the British Empire to be compulsory elements for the first time, joining the two world wars and the holocaust, which are compulsory in the current National Curriculum.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in (a) England and (b) Wansbeck are in receipt of the education maintenance allowance. [101943]

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council’s Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 5 December 2006:

English for Speakers of Other Languages

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of those students enrolled on programmes of study leading to
20 Feb 2007 : Column 678W
English for speakers of other languages skills for life are (a) learners from the European Union, (b) asylum seekers and (c) economic immigrants. [117665]

Phil Hope: Since 2001, over 1.9 million learners have improved their English language skills on courses funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) through the Skills for Life Strategy.

Data on Further Education learners are gathered for the LSC through the Individualised Learner Record. Data is therefore a matter for the LSC and Mark Haysom, the Chief Executive has written to my hon. Friend explaining the more detailed arrangements and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

Letter from Mark Haysom:

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the work programme is of the management board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; and if he will make a statement. [121401]

Bill Rammell: The Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) meets annually to approve the work programme for the Centre for the coming year. The Management Board comprises representatives of Government, employers’ organisations, and employees’
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organisations from each member state and three representatives from the European Commission. Copies of the agreed work programme are then placed on the Centre’s website at: www.cedefop.europa.eu

CEDEFOP is the acronym, in French, of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. It was established by Council Regulation 337/75. It is the European Agency that helps promote and develop vocational education and training in the European Union. It has been based in Thessaloniki in Greece since 1995, operating a liaison office in Brussels.

CEDEFOP’s tasks are to:

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget is of the management board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; and what share is met by the UK. [121400]

Bill Rammell: According to the last set of audited accounts for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational training (CEDEFOP), in 2005, the paid administration expenditure of CEDEFOP was €865,000. The costs relevant to the Management Board are paid from this budget line and are not separately identified from other administrative expenditure. The United Kingdom makes its contributions to the EC Budget as a whole and not to individual programmes within it. After taking account of the abatement, the United Kingdom gross share of financing the 2005 EC Budget was 12.06 per cent. The European Court of Auditors report on the 2005 CEDEFOP accounts was laid in Parliament in December 2006 and my department provided an Explanatory Memorandum to the European Scrutiny Committees on 16 January 2007.

Foundation Degrees

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) HNDs and (b) foundation degrees were awarded in England in each year between 1998 and 2006. [121606]

Bill Rammell: The available information is given in the table.


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Students awarded HND and foundation degrees at English HE institutions, 1998-09 to 2005-06.
HND Foundation degree

1997-98

13,460

n/a

1998-99

13,035

n/a

1999-00

11,655

n/a

2000-01

12,115

n/a

2001-02

12,000

(1)150

2002-03

11,660

1,060

2003-04

9,235

2,855

2004-05

7,500

5,635

2005-06

6,165

8,820

n/a = not applicable. The first Foundation Degree qualifiers were in 2001-02. (1) Before the introduction of foundation degrees there were courses already in existence which had at least some of the attributes described in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) foundation degree prospectus. In 2000-01 around 800 students were reported to HEFCE through their HESES survey as having been 'marketed by the institution' as a foundation degree and these programmes in 2000-01 are viewed by HEFCE as precursors to foundation degrees. It is likely that foundation degree qualifiers recorded in 2001-02 are from these types of qualification. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5

GCSE

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 72W, on GCSEs, how many maintained mainstream schools did not enter any pupils for a GCSE in (a) a modern foreign language, (b) history and (c) geography in each year since 1997. [118399]

Jim Knight [holding answer 8 February 2007]: The following table shows the number of maintained mainstream schools where no 15-year-old pupils were entered at GCSE in history, geography and a modern foreign language since 1997.

History Geography MFL All schools

1997

94

74

2

3,169

1998

87

69

11

3,168

1999

97

74

8

3,159

2000

85

67

7

3,146

2001

87

73

10

3,133

2002

61

49

8

3,127

2003

71

81

9

3,113

2004

57

64

11

3,111

2005

60

76

16

3,107

2006

68

85

25

3,112


Data for 2006 are revised. Data for all other years are final.

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many UK domiciled students at British universities studying for an (a) full-time and (b) part-time undergraduate honours degree there were in each year since 1997, broken down by socio-economic category. [119982]

Bill Rammell [holding answer 8 February 2007]: The latest available information for full-time students is given in the table. The figures are taken from data collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) which are limited to students who apply to full-time undergraduate courses via the UCAS application system. The figures do not therefore cover part-time students or those full-time students who apply directly to higher education institutions.

The socio-economic classification was introduced in 2002/03 to replace the social class categories, and so the two sets of data in these tables are not directly comparable.

The latest figures for acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that the percentage of acceptances from lower socio-economic groups has not fallen between 2004/05 and 2006/07.


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UK domiciled accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses by social class for years of entry 1997-2001—UK higher education institutions
Year of entry
Social class 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

I

Professional

39,644

38,510

38,864

38,841

39,748

II

Intermediate

117,360

115,615

115,667

117,675

120,831

IIIN

Skilled-non manual

37,333

35,610

36,286

37,778

38,774

IIIM

Skilled-manual

44,804

44,207

44,474

44,415

48,412

IV

Partly skilled

23,507

22,692

23,097

24,152

23,114

V

Unskilled

5,620

5,329

5,538

5,535

5,604

Total known

268,268

261,963

263,926

268,396

276,483

X

Unknown

35,050

36,257

39,139

40,322

48,989

Total

303,318

298,220

303,065

308,718

325,472

Proportion of students( 1) from:

Classes I—IIIN (percentage)

72.4

72.4

72.3

72.4

72.1

Classes IIIM—V (percentage)

27.6

27.6

27.7

27.6

27.9

(1) Based on those students with a known socio-economic classification.
Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

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