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12 Jun 2008 : Column 505W—continued
Departmental Vocational Training
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills for what proportion of its staff his Department has provided vocational training in the last three years. [209432]
Mr. Lammy: The Department was formed as a result of Machinery of Government changes in June 2007. The Department's people information is maintained on the HR management systems of the two Departments from which staff were transferred, namely BERR and DCSF. Neither of these Departments hold information on vocational training in the form requested centrally and this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Doctors: Training
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of students undertaking medical education with a view to qualification as a doctor under the Widening Participation Scheme who are from (a) white British and (b) black Caribbean backgrounds in the most recent period for which figures are available. [207688]
Bill Rammell: Ethnicity figures for all medical students in England are shown in table 1. Several medical schools run schemes to encourage applications from bright students from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds. Data on admissions through these schemes are not collected centrally, but a recent article in the British Medical Journal highlighted the success of the Extended Medical Degree Programme run by King’s College London. Ethnicity figures for students on this programme are shown in table 2.
| Table 1: UK domiciled medical( 1) enrolments by ethnicity— English higher edu cation institutions— 2006/07 academic year | ||
| Ethnicity | Number | Proportion( 2) (percentage) |
| (1) Medical includes students enrolled on the principal subjects Pre-Clinical Medicine and Clinical Medicine only. (2) Ethnicity proportions are calculated using the total with known ethnicity. Information refused and not known/missing proportions are calculated using the overall total. Note: Figures are on a HESA Standard Registration Population basis and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record. | ||
| Table 2: Ethnic origin of King’s College London EMDP students 2002-06 | |
| Percentage | |
Equality
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will take steps to establish a strategy to tackle age discrimination and promote age equality in the provision of goods and services (a) by the Department and (b) within the sectors for which he has policy responsibility; and if he will make a statement. [210458]
Mr. Lammy: The Government are committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all learners, and that learning serves the needs of the whole community, including older people both within and outside the work force. Our strategy for World Class Skills and our reforms of wider adult learning are designed to ensure that everyone, whatever their age or background, has the opportunity to improve their skills, prospects and quality of life. We will continue to work closely with our ministerial colleagues to respond to the consultation on the Equality Bill—“A Framework for Fairness”—to ensure that everyone, in every community, can lead healthy and fulfilling lives by participating fully in work, education and society as a whole.
Protection from discrimination on the grounds of age was introduced in the area of employment and vocational training through the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The Regulations mean that further education and training providers are not allowed to set age limits for access to training unless they can show objective justification why there is a real need to apply such limits. The Government have decided that all courses at Further Education and Higher Education institutions are covered by the age regulations, whether they are specifically vocational or more general in nature. This ensures that there is a unified and consistent approach to age-related practices and policies in relation to all such provision.
I must stress that the Regulations do not bar providers from offering age-related fee discounts. Many colleges and other providers have longstanding, formal, informal and discretionary arrangements based on age when deciding eligibility for fee concessions. These are entirely at the discretion and cost of individual providers. I refer the hon. Member to the written statement by my hon. Friend the Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, which said:
“Guidance on the vocational training aspects of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations is available on the DTI website. It is aimed at, amongst others, providers of further and adult education. The guidance makes it clear that age related practices, such as age related fee concessions, may be objectively justified where they are a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. It is for providers to produce evidence of such objective justification if called upon to do so, or to take their own legal advice if necessary. Guidance on objective justification is also available on page 30 of the ACAS guidance on the Age Regulations.” [ Official Report, 16 May 2007, col. 35WS.]
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people resident in England were accepted by a university in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2006-07, broken down by (i) age band, (ii) sex and (iii) county of residence. [208856]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 9 June 2008]: The latest available information, showing the number of full-time undergraduate entrants by their local authority of domicile is given in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government plans to take to increase numbers of young people going to university. [210394]
Bill Rammell: Our January 2008 grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England provided sufficient funding for recruitment by 2011 of 60,000 new students. This increase builds on our consistent track record of growing student numbers to record levels. But we are not simply concerned with recruiting younger students. Our development of new models for the funding and design of higher education (HE) courses will also enable us to grow the number of mature students entering HE part-time.
As part of this strategy for growth, we have asked the Funding Council over the next six years to support 20 new HE centres with around 10,000 student places, under our new University Challenge initiative. This will allow more students to gain access to HE locally. We are also committed to a steep increase in the number of people studying for foundation degrees. Our ambition to provide 100,000 foundation degree enrolments by 2010 will support young people and adults in employment to develop higher level work-related skills.
We believe that there will be demand for the new places we are creating. Improvements to the student support package for full-time students in England announced last July will further encourage more young people to go to university. For young people, we know that the best way to increase participation in HE is to raise level 2 achievement in schools at age 16 with an increase in young people attaining five GCSEs at grades A* to C to 62 per cent. from 37 per cent. in 1997. New study options for young people at age 14, the Aimhigher Programme and HE institutions’ own outreach activity working directly with schools all help to raise aspirations and achievement across the board.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of (a) state school and (b) private school students in (i) the UK, (ii) Leeds Metropolitan District and (iii) Leeds, West constituency were admitted to higher education in each year since 1997. [211177]
Bill Rammell: It is not possible to answer the question as it is posed. However, the following information is what is currently available.
The proportion of young entrants to full-time first degree courses in the UK, who had previously attended a state school or college is shown in table 1. All schools or colleges that are not denoted ‘independent’ are assumed to be state schools. This means that students from sixth form or further education colleges, for example, are included as being from state schools. Information specifically on the percentage of private school students admitted to higher education is not available.
HEFCE’s “Young participation in Higher Education” publication includes the proportion of young people who enter higher education at age 18 or 19 by parliamentary constituency, although this only covers the years up to 2000 and is not available by school type. Participation rates based on this work are given on the supporting POLAR website at:
The proportion of young people from Leeds, West constituency and from England, who entered higher education at age 18 or 19 is shown in table 2. Figures are shown under the year in which the cohort turned 18. Figures for Leeds metropolitan district are not available.
| Table 2: Proportion of young people who entered higher education at age 18 or 19 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Leeds, West constituency entering HE aged 18 or 19 | England entering HE aged 18 or 19 | |
Higher Education: Medicine
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of students entering medical education for training leading to qualification as a doctor were from an ethnic minority background in each of the last five years; and what proportion of students entered medical education leading to qualification as a doctor under the extended medical degree programme and other widening participation schemes in each of the last five years. [207711]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 2 June 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 12 June in response to his question PQ 207688.
Table 1 shows the ethnicity of entrants to medical courses over the last five years.
| Table 1: UK Domiciled medical( 1) entrants by ethnicity—English higher education institutions, academic years 2002-03 to 2006-07 | ||||||
| Academic year | White background | Ethnic minority background | Total with known ethnicity | |||
| N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | |
| Academic year | Information refused | Not known/ missing | Total | |||
| N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | N umber | ( 2) Proportion % | |
| (1)Medical includes students enrolled on the principal subjects Pre-Clinical Medicine and Clinical Medicine only. (2)Ethnicity proportions are calculated using the total with known ethnicity. Information refused and not known/missing proportions are calculated using the overall total. Notes: Figures are on a HESA Standard Registration Population basis and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record. | ||||||
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