| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 Mar 2007 : Column 2057W—continued
Higher Education: Student Numbers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many university applications there were in each of the past seven years by people living in (a) England, (b) the North East region and (c) Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency. [124224]
Bill Rammell: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is given in the table. UCAS do not produce statistics on applicants by parliamentary constituency.
| English applicants through UCAS to full time higher education courses | ||
| Year of entry | English domiciles | Of which: From the North East |
| Source: UCAS annual datasets | ||
Latest figures for entry in 2007, show that there were 291,075 applicants from England as at 15 January 2007. This represented a rise of 7.1 per cent. over the same point in the 2006 entry cycle. Of these English applicants, 12,003 were from the North East.
Higher Education: Student Wastage
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what rates of student retention were in each academic year from 1996 to 2007, broken down by (a) social class, (b) ethnicity and (c) age. [122405]
Bill Rammell: Non-continuation figures are available for full-time entrants to higher education, and these provide an indication of student retention. These figures show the proportion of entrants who do not continue in higher education after their first year. The rates for young (under 21) and mature (21 and over) entrants to full-time first degrees are shown in the table:
| Percentage of UK-domiciled entrants to full-time first degrees in HEIs in the UK not continuing in higher education after their first year | ||
| Young | Mature | |
| Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA | ||
Non-continuation rates have not been published by National Statistics Socio-Economic Class (NS-SEC). However, HEFCE have provided non-continuation figures for young full-time first degree entrants in 2002/03 and 2003/04, broken down by NS-SEC for broad groups of entry qualification levels. These figures are shown in the following table.
| Percentage of young entrants to full-time first degrees in HEIs in the UK in2002/03 and 2003/04 not continuing in higher education after their first year | |||||||
| Entrants 2002-03 | Entrants 2003-04 | ||||||
| Entry qualification categories | Tariff points | NS-SEC 1 to3 | NS-SEC 4 to 7 | All entrants with known NS-SEC | NS-SEC 1 to3 | NS-SEC 4 to 7 | All entrants with known NS-SEC |
| Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) | |||||||
Figures are not available for earlier years because the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification was introduced in 2001 and was adopted by UCAS and HESA in 2002.
These data pre-date the 2006/07 introduction of tuition fee loans ensuring that no student has to find their fees either before or during their studies, the introduction of non-repayable maintenance grants of up to £2,700 for those from low income households and university bursaries. Alongside this, the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Widening Participation Allocation (WPA) continues to provide the HE sector with funding to improve retention rates (for 2006/07 retention funding amounts to £240 million of the £345 million total WPA).
There are currently no non-continuation figures available which are broken down by ethnic group.
Literature: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy considerations affected the decision to include the study of pre-20th century English literature on the Key Stage 3 English curriculum. [124320]
Jim Knight: The pre-20th century texts chosen enable pupils to understand the appeal and importance over time of texts from the English literary heritage. These are authors with an enduring appeal that transcends the period in which they were written and have played a significant role in the development of literature in English. They continue to be read, studied and interpreted in print and on screen for contemporary audiences.
Ofsted
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will place in the Library copies of the Ofsted staff surveys for (a) 2004 and (b) 2006; [124433]
(2) if he will publish Ofsted’s disciplinary procedures and guidelines on bullying in the workplace; [124434]
(3) how much was spent by Ofsted on external press relations and communications advice in each of the last three years; and what the planned expenditure was for the 2007-08 financial year; [124435]
(4) how many staff work for Ofsted; and how many left their posts in each of the last three years; [124436]
(5) which positions of employment are being advertised by Ofsted. [124437]
Jim Knight [holding answer 1 March 2007]: These matters are for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to my hon. Friend and copies of her replies have been placed in the Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:
Parliamentary Question Number 124433: Ofsted Staff Survey
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked whether we would place in the Library copies of the Ofsted staff surveys for 2004 and 2006.
As requested, a copy of the 2004 and 2006 staff surveys have been placed in the Library for your information.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:
Parliamentary Question Number 124435: External Press Relations and Communications Advice
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked how much was spent by Ofsted on external press relations and communications advice in each of the last three years; and what the planned expenditure was for the 2007-08 financial year.
Ofsted manages external press relations through an in-house press team and since 2005 has made use of services provided by the Government News Network to support regional media enquiries. Through our Corporate Learning and Development team, we also run media training courses. The total cost of these services in 2004-05 and 2005-06 respectively were £309,907 and £330,895.
As we have not yet reached the end of this financial year, we are unable to give final costs for 2006-07, but these will be in the region of £400k. The forecast spend for 2007-08 is £470k. The increase reflects Ofsted’s expanded remit.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:
Parliamentary Question Number 124434: Ofsted’s Disciplinary Procedures and Guidelines on Bullying
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
As requested, I have enclosed copies of Ofsted’s Disciplinary Policy and Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment Policy for your information.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:
Parliamentary Question Number 124436: Staffing
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked how many staff work for Ofsted and how many staff left their posts in each of the last three years.
At the end of December 2006, 2190 full time equivalent staff worked for Ofsted.
We have shown the figures in two parts. Each year we have had leavers due to staff turnover but, in addition, during 2005 and 2006 Ofsted undertook a significant restructuring programme entitled ‘Improving Ofsted’. This programme was undertaken to improve business efficiency and reduce our overall running costs. Ofsted closed eight of its twelve offices, resulting in a number of redundancies. We have therefore identified those leavers separately from the rest:
| January to December | Normal leavers | Improving Ofsted leavers | Total leavers |
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:
Parliamentary Question Number 124437: Positions of Employment Currently Being Advertised by Ofsted
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked which positions of employment are being advertised by Ofsted.
The following positions are currently being advertised on our website (www.ofsted.gov.uk):
Childcare Inspectors (temporary posts), Midlands region
Contact Centre Administrators, National Business Unit, Manchester
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |