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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

2000

321,343

14,561

2001

330,856

15,101

2002

331,602

15,146

2003

337,593

15,841

2004

339,967

15,571

2005

368,801

16,360

2006

358,067

16,127

Source:
UCAS annual datasets

7 Mar 2007 : Column 2058W

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

1996/97

7.6

15.3

1997/98

7.6

15.3

1998/99

7.9

16.0

1999/2000

7.8

15.9

2000/01

7.1

14.5

2001/02

7.3

14.9

2002/03

7.8

15.4

2003/04

7.7

15.6

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

A-levels or Highers:

Unknown

11.6

14.7

12.7

8.1

11.8

9.1

Up to 200

11.3

11.3

11.3

11.1

11.9

11.4

201 to 290

7.8

8.0

7.9

7.6

8.4

7.9

291 to 380

4.7

5.1

4.8

4.9

5.8

5.2

Above 380

2.4

3.2

2.6

2.5

3.4

2.7

Other qualifications

9.4

10.9

9.9

9.2

11.1

9.9

All qualifications

6.4

8.1

6.9

6.0

8.2

6.7

Source:
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

7 Mar 2007 : Column 2059W

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:


7 Mar 2007 : Column 2060W

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:

January to December Normal leavers Improving Ofsted leavers Total leavers

2004

291

0

291

2005

344

198

542

2006

285

298

583


Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 2 March 2007:


7 Mar 2007 : Column 2061W

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