Public Accounts - Minutes of Evidence [Back to Report]

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Here you can browse the Minutes of Evidence which were ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 4 February 2008.

Oral evidence

Taken before the Committee of Public Accounts

on Monday 29 October 2007

Members present:

Mr Edward Leigh (Chairman)	Mr Austin Mitchell
Mr Richard Bacon	Dr John Pugh
Angela Browning	Mr Don Touhig
Mr Ian Davidson	Mr Alan Williams
Mr Philip Dunne

CONTENTS

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Sir John Bourn KCB, Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr Tim Burr, Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General and Angela Hands, Director, National Audit Office, were in attendance and gave evidence.

Marius Gallaher, Alternate Treasury Officer of Accounts, was in attendance.

REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL

Staying the course: The retention of students in higher education (HC 616)

Witnesses: Ruth Thompson, Director-General, Higher Education, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive, Higher Education Funding Council for England, gave evidence.

Question Numbers:

1-19

20-39

40-59

60-79

80-99

100-119

120-139

140-159

160-165

Supplementary memorandum submitted by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills

School / College expenditure on STEM subjects

Percentage of the working population from lower socio-economic groups

Percentage of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degree courses who are from state schools

18 year old population who attended school, split by school type

UCAS applications from UK domiciled students by subject (2006 entry) (Listed by percentage of applications from Independent Schools)

UCAS applications from UK domiciled students by subject (2006 entry) (Listed by percentage of applications from Maintained Schools)

Supplementary memorandum submitted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England

Table 1: Non-continuation of young full-time degree entrants

Table 2: Sector rates of non-continuation

Table 3: Calculation of adjusted sector rate for University of X

Table 1: NON-CONTINUATION RATES FOR STUDENTS ENTERING FULL-TIME FIRST DEGREE COURSES AT ENGLISH INSTITUTIONS IN 2004-05, BY AGE AND DOMICILE

Table 2: PROJECTED OUTCOMES FOR HOME AND OVERSEAS STUDENTS

Table T5: PROJECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES: FULL-TIME STUDENTS STARTING FIRST DEGREE COURSES 2004-05

Supplementary memorandum submitted by the National Audit Office

Figure 1: THE RETENTION OF FULL-TIME, FIRST-DEGREE STUDENTS STARTING COURSES, 2004-05

Figure 2: THE RETENTION OF YOUNG ENTRANTS FROM LOW-PARTICIPATION NEIGHBOURHOODS, 2004-05

Figure 3: ACTIONS TO IMPROVE RETENTION

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Prepared 19 February 2008