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20 Apr 2009 : Column 5W—continued
Publications: Internet
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission at what times on each sitting day (a) the Official Report, (b) the Summary Agenda and Order of Business, (c) Future Business, (d) Votes and Proceedings, (e) Early Day Motions and (f) Questions for Oral or Written Answer (The Questions Book) are planned to be placed on the parliamentary (i) intranet and (ii) website; on what occasions in the last three months each has been late; for what reasons in each case; what steps the Commission is taking to ensure these items are available electronically in a timely manner; and if he will make a statement. [268438]
Nick Harvey: Target upload times are the same for intranet and internet versions of parliamentary publications. Target upload times are as follows:
| Publication | Target upload times |
|
3 to 4 hours after delivery of speeches in the Chamber or Westminster Hall, reducing to 2 to 3 hours on the rising of the House | |
In the period January to March 2009, the following items have been uploaded late:
| Publication | Number of occasions of late uploading |
Full information on the reason in each case for late uploading is not recorded. Delays have occurred in part because of the need to amend links or to amend and reload files. Upload times are monitored to ensure timely publication on the intranet and internet and to ensure that publication difficulties are resolved.
In addition to the publications listed, regular updates are made to other parliamentary intranet and internet pages. These include the following:
Announcements of ministerial statements - hourly uploads from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm
Business statement—an hour after the end of the statement
Announcements of Select Committee evidence sessions—usually by 5 pm Thursday
Announcements of General Committees—by 5 pm Wednesday and updated where necessary by 5 pm Thursday
Updates to Today's business on www.parliament.uk are published at midnight. This section also links to the parliamentary calendar, which shows daily business in the Chamber, Westminster Hall and Select and General Committees. Latest news on:
is updated daily and updates can be published hourly from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm and at midnight.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education
Michael Gove:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many full level 2 qualifications completed by adult learners have
included (a) mathematics GCSE and (b) English GCSE in each of the last 10 years. [260811]
Mr. Simon: The table shows the number of full level 2 qualifications achieved by adult learners in further education which included GCSE mathematics or GCSE English. Information is provided for 2003/04 to 2007/08. Comparable figures prior to 2003/04 are not available.
| Full level 2 achievements by adults (aged 19+) in further education provision, of which including GCSE mathematics or GCSE English, 2003/04 to 2007/08 | ||||
| Of the total full level 2 achievers | ||||
| Academic year | Full level 2 achievers total | Achieving GCSE English | Achieving GCSE mathematics | Of which , achieving both |
| Notes: 1. Age is based on age as at 31 August (academic age). 2. This information does not include learners achieving a full level 2 qualification in school sixth forms. It also does not include information on learners in higher education institutions, including those that deliver FE provision, unless a provider has submitted an FE individualised learner record return. 3. Learners achieving a full level 2 including both GCSE mathematics and GCSE English are included in both of the columns for these GCSEs and also the column for learners achieving both. Source: FE ILR | ||||
Over the last few years the Government have prioritised funding towards longer and fuller programmes such as full level 2 qualifications (equivalent of five A*-C GCSEs or vocational equivalent). This has increased the number of adults achieving the broad platform of skills for entering and progressing into employment.
Aimhigher Programme
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what percentage of students who attended Aimhigher courses, events or workshops subsequently enrolled in a university in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06; [268784]
(2) how many 16 to 18-year-olds who attended Aimhigher courses subsequently enrolled in a university in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06; [268786]
(3) how the effectiveness of the Aimhigher programme in encouraging school students into higher education is measured; [268787]
(4) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Aimhigher programme. [268788]
Mr. Lammy: Aimhigher is making a significant contribution towards raising the aspirations of young people towards university, and their pre-entry attainment levels. Over 50 per cent. of young people from all social backgrounds now aspire to university.
It is not possible at a national level to identify young people entering university who previously participated in Aimhigher activities.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to work with partnerships on the collection of consistent and coherent local data so that the impact of the programme can better be assessed. We expect the results from a separate study of early Excellence Challenge participants into higher education to be available later in the spring. This will give us the first information to date on the impact of Aimhigher on entry to university.
Evaluation of Aimhigher's predecessors showed, for example, that after just 18 months of the Excellence Challenge programme:
pupils in schools with Excellence Challenge improved by 2.5 GCSE points compared to those in comparison schools;
there was a significant improvement in the proportion of young people in Excellence Challenge schools attaining levels 4, 5 or 6 in the key stage 3 tests between 2001/02 and 2002/03: it is estimated that Excellence Challenge led to a 4.6 percentage point increase in Maths attainment at key stage 3; and
aspirations to HE were 3.9 percentage points higher in Excellence Challenge schools than in non-Excellence Challenge schools.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many sixth form students attended Aimhigher courses, events or workshops in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06. [268785]
Mr. Lammy: This information is not available at a national level. The report ‘Aimhigher summer schools: Analysis of provision and participation in summer schools 2004-2008’ (Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), 2009) says that, during the five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, the Aimhigher summer school programme funded over 1,350 summer schools which helped 41,000 young people. Nine out of 10 school participants in summer schools were from school years 10 and 11, with the remainder mainly drawn from school year 12.
The Department is currently working with HEFCE to develop a new web based database that will record Aimhigher participants and activities, and this will be trialled shortly.
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what the budget
for the Aimhigher programme was in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06; [268789]
(2) how much was spent on all programmes to encourage and widen participation in higher education in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06; [268790]
(3) what the advertising budget was for Aimhigher programmes in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06. [268792]
Mr. Lammy: The budget for Aimhigher in the years 2005-06 to 2007-08 was as follows:
| Aimhigher( 1) budget (£ million) | |
| (1) Aimhigher is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Learning and Skills Council and the Department for Health. The budgets include funding for the Aimhigher Associates programme. | |
The amount spent on all programmes to encourage and widen participation in higher education in the years 2005-06 to 2007-08 was as follows:
| £ million to nearest whole number | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) The unified Aimhigher programme was introduced in 2004. Predecessor programmes were Excellence Challenge, funded by the then Department for Education and Skills, and Partnerships for Progression, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Aimhigher is funded jointly by DIUS, HEFCE, the LSC and the Department for Health. (2) The figures include, annually, £47.9 million from the Department, and £29 million from HEFCE. (3) All student support figures are for English domiciled students. (4) These figures also include the allocations for improving the retention of non traditional students, and to widen access and improve provision for disabled students. | |||
There is no specific budget for the advertising of Aimhigher programmes. The majority of the Aimhigher budget is allocated to Aimhigher partnerships of schools, colleges and universities. Partnerships draw up plans setting out their vision and strategic priorities, their strategic objectives for the year, including indicators of success and timescales, and their evaluation plans. Information on advertising is not collected nationally.
Basic Skills
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people have made use of Skills Accounts since the launch of the pilots in September 2008. [268645]
Mr. Simon:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 696W. All those who have registered for a skills account can
make use of it in a number of ways. These include finding out how much Government funding an individual may be entitled to support their learning, checking the availability of that learning in the local area, and getting advice and guidance on careers and jobs.
The Government are committed to rolling out skills accounts from autumn 2010. Ultimately, we want accounts to deliver a high level of personal empowerment, giving adults the power to choose the training they need and to commission that training direct from providers.
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