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24 Oct 2007 : Column 442W—continued
The reason for leaving information on the HESA student record should be treated with some caution, because the ‘Other personal reasons and dropped out’ and ‘Other’ fields are used extensively throughout the time-series. Institutions are not always able to record the precise reason for leaving. Furthermore, HESA allows only one reason for withdrawal to be recorded, however it is likely that many students leave for a combination of reasons. The aforementioned figures are therefore likely to show an underestimate of the number of students leaving for financial reasons.
Tables 1 and 2 are based on different populations of students. Table 1 covers the cohort of full-time first degree starters of all ages in each year. Table 2 covers full-time and part-time first degree students aged 21 years and under leaving their courses in each year, regardless of the year of study or which year they began their course.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the dropout rate from university courses was in each of the last 15 years. [155657]
Bill Rammell: The latest available projected non-completion indicators for entrants to full-time first degree courses are shown in the table.
| Proportion of UK-domiciled entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK higher education institutions who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution | |
| Academic year | Percentage |
| Source: ‘Performance Indicators in Higher Education’, published by HESA | |
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes these projected non-completion indicators in its Performance Indicators in Higher Education publication each year. Figures are not available for earlier years.
Students: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time students registered for higher education courses at universities in East Sussex in each year since 1997. [151358]
Bill Rammell [ p ursuant to the reply , 3 September 2007, Official Report, c . 1775-76W]: The following table amends an error in the figures.
The available information is given in the table. The University of Sussex is the only Higher Education Institution with its headquarters in East Sussex local authority.
Students: Finance
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the cost of student grants was in each of the last 15 years; and what the estimated cost is for each of the next three years. [155662]
Bill Rammell: The available data are given in the table.
| Expenditure on student grants( 1) for maintenance: this excludes tuition fee remission grant and special grants for vulnerable students. Students domiciled in England and Wales academic years 1992/93 to 2004/05. Students domiciled in England academic years 2005/06 to 2006/07 | |
| Academic year | Expenditure (£ million) |
| (1) Data do not include tuition fee remission grants or supplementary grants and allowances; eg for students with disabilities, students with dependents, single parent students, those incurring certain travel costs and those who have recently left care. (2) Data prior to 2004/05 refer to Mandatory Award scheme students. These arrangements applied to students who entered HE up to 1997/98 who received support for maintenance through means-tested grants. Data were not collected for mandatory award students in 2002/03 and subsequent years because of the low numbers of students involved. These figures are on an England and Wales basis. (3) In 2004/05 and 2005/06, data refer to Student Support Scheme Students (students entering from 1998/99 who received support for living costs mainly through loans which are partly income-assessed) in receipt of a full or part Higher Education Grant (HEG) which was introduced for new students entering from 2004/05. 2004/05 data cover England and Wales, 2005/06 cover England. Separate England data are not available for earlier years. (4) The 2006/07 figure is provisional England data covering the HEG and the new Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant introduced in September 2006. Sources: DFES F503G survey of local authorities, Student Loans Company (SLC) | |
Expenditure provision for student grants for maintenance in financial year 2007-08 for English domiciled students is £568 million. It is not possible to provide a FY 2007-08 figure on an academic year basis.
Detail on specific areas of funding for the Spending Review 2007 period is not available at present, but will be available in the near future.
The drop in the number of students receiving a grant from 1998/99 onwards reflects the fact that maintenance grants were replaced by loans for new students, therefore only existing students continued to receive a maintenance grant.
The large rise in the figures shown for 2005/06 and 2006/07 reflects the fact that the Higher Education Grant was introduced in 2004/05 for new students and therefore covered two cohorts in 2005/06. In 2006/07 the HEG was replaced by the Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant.
Students: Grants
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the change in the number of students per year who will be eligible for a maintenance grant as a result of the policies announced in the statement of 5 July 2007, Official Report, columns 1108-10, on higher education (student support). [158796]
Bill Rammell: The 5(th) July announcement increases the means-testing threshold below which students are entitled to a full maintenance grant up from £17,910 for entrants in 2007/08—to £25,000 for entrants in 2008/09. The threshold for a partial grant will increase from £38,330 for entrants in 2007/08—to £60,005 for entrants in 2008/09. Details of the increased support package have now been placed in the Members’ Library.
By 2010/11 the majority of students will fall under the new regulations. The July announcement included an estimate that, by this point, we expect more than 100,000 additional students will be entitled to some level of maintenance grant, and within this, an additional 50,000 will be entitled to a full grant (worth £2,835 in 2008/09). Exact numbers will depend on household income of students applying for support over the CSR.
Students: Suffolk
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of students who applied for (a) student loans and (b) grants from Suffolk local education authority for the 2007/08 academic year received them in time for the start of that year; and what the equivalent figures were in the 2006/07 academic year. [159216]
Bill Rammell: By 13 October 2007, Suffolk local authority had received 10,541 student finance applications, of which 87 per cent. had been processed to a point at which loan and grant payments could be released, marginally less than at the same point in 2006, when 92 per cent. of Suffolk’s applications had been processed. Students submit one application for their Student Finance entitlement; therefore performance statistics do not distinguish between loans and grants.
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