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Higher Education

Answer

Information on the social background of students obtaining places on full-time undergraduate courses in the UK has been published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) since 1994, and the figures for under 25-year-olds are shown in the following table. Comparable figures for earlier years are not held centrally. The figures are limited to students who applied to full-time undergraduate courses via UCAS, and they do not therefore cover part-time students nor those full-time students who apply directly to Higher Education Institutions.

UK-domiciled students aged under 25 accepted onto full-time higher education courses via UCAS, broken down by social class
		Year of entry
		1994	1995	1996	1997
	Total accepted students	218,680	230,140	233,640	265,330
	Of which:
I	Professional	34,685	35,770	36,605	38,245
II	Intermediate	90,810	93,075	94,915	106,450
IIIN	Skilled non-manual	25,440	26,010	26,530	30,600
IIIM	Skilled Manual	34,810	36,785	36,095	40,215
IV	Partly skilled	15,845	16,800	17,015	19,785
V	Unskilled	3,790	4,255	4,280	4,940
	Not known	13,300	17,445	18,200	25095
	Percentage from:
I	Professional	16.9	16.8	17.0	15.9
II	Intermediate	44.2	43.8	44.1	44.3
IIIN	Skilled non-manual	12.4	12.2	12.3	12.7
IIIM	Skilled manual	16.9	17.3	16.8	16.7
IV	Partly skilled	7.7	7.9	7.9	8.2
V	Unskilled	1.8	2.0	2.0	2.1

		Year of entry
		1998	1999	2000	2001
	Total accepted students	265,435	271,430	277,435	292,310
	Of which:
I	Professional	37,340	37,855	37,965	38,780
II	Intermediate	106,430	107,170	109,210	112,000
IIIN	Skilled non-manual	30,100	31,180	32,615	33,390
IIIM	Skilled manual	40,330	41,035	40,955	44,735
IV	Partly skilled	19,495	19,920	10,840	19,695
V	Unskilled	4,775	5,000	5,070	5,170
	Not known	26,965	29,270	30,780	38,535
	Percentage from:
I	Professional	15.7	15.6	15.4	15.3
II	Intermediate	44.6	44.3	44.3	44.1
IIIN	Skilled non-manual	12.6	12.9	13.2	13.2
IIIM	Skilled Manual	16.9	16.9	16.6	17.6
IV	Partly skilled	8.2	8.2	8.4	7.8
V	Unskilled	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.0
Source: UCAS.
(14) Percentages are based on students who provided details of their background.

UK-domiciled students aged under 25 accepted onto full-time higher education courses via UCAS, broken down by socio-economic group(15)
		Year of entry
		2002	2003	2004	2005
	Total accepted students	297,580	298,900	299,840	323,380
	Of which:
1.	Higher managerial and professional	59,570	57,410	57,780	57,705
2.	Lower managerial and professional	77,605	77,070	78,475	80,525
3.	Intermediate	36,945	35,370	35,750	36,975
4.	Small employers and own account workers	18,950	18,885	18,910	19,570
5.	Lower supervisory and technical	12,215	12,890	12,572	12,980
6.	Semi-routine	29,935	30,350	30,494	33,495
7.	Routine	14,345	13,810	13,934	14,665
8.	Not known	48,025	53,115	51,930	67,510
	Percentage from:
1.	Higher managerial and professional	23.9	23.4	23.3	22.6
2.	Lower managerial and professional	31.1	31.4	31.7	31.5
3.	Intermediate	14.8	14.4	14.4	14.5
4.	Small employers and own account workers	7.6	7.7	7.6	7.6
5.	Lower supervisory and technical	4.9	5.2	5.1	5.1
6.	Semi-routine	12.0	12.3	12.3	13.1
7.	Routine	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.7
Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest five and percentages are rounded to one decimal place, so components may not sum to totals. Source: UCAS
(15) The socio-economic classification was introduced in 2002/03 to replace the social class categories. The two classifications are not directly comparable.
(16) Percentages are based on students who provided details of their background.

In the past few years, we have seen a steady widening of participation in higher education. Performance indicators published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that the proportion of students from non-traditional backgrounds has increased across a range of measures. The proportion from low participation neighbourhoods, for example, rose from 12.1 per cent. to 13.9 per cent. between 1997/98 and 2003/04, the latest year for which figures are available.

Proportion of young (under 21) UK domiciled entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK HEIs
	Proportion of entrants to higher education from:
	State schools	Lower social classes(IIIM, IV, V)	Lower Socio-economic groups (4–7)	Low participation areas
1997/98	81.8	24.9	n/a	12.1
1998/99	85.0	25.1	n/a	12.3
1999/2000	84.9	25.3	n/a	12.4
2000/01	85.7	25.4	n/a	12.5
2001/02	86.0	25.8	n/a	13.1
2002/03	87.2	n/a	28.4	13.3
2003/04	86.8	n/a	28.6	13.9
Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education, n/a = not available. The socio-economic group classification was introduced in 2002/03 to replace the social class groupings. The two classifications are not directly comparable.

We believe that more people with the potential to benefit from higher education should have the opportunity to do so. Higher education leads to a range of benefits, not only higher earnings but reduced crime, better health, and wider social capital benefits. The new student support arrangements offer a better deal for students from poorer backgrounds. We have reintroduced grants for those from low income households; we have ended up front fees; and we have introduced the Office for Fair Access so that universities have agreements on outreach and funding help that they will offer poorer students. £300 million is being offered in bursaries and other financial support. Alongside this, the Government and its partners support the Aimhigher programme, which enables partnerships of schools, colleges and universities to design and deliver a range of aspiration and attainment raising activities to enable young people from backgrounds currently under-represented in higher education to be able and willing to go on to HE. We are also determined to improve educational attainment so that more people are in a position to benefit from HE. Our proposals in the Schools White Paper, which is now the basis for The Education and Inspections Bill 2006, will help ensure that every young person has the opportunity to reach their potential, including, where appropriate, university education.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

42773; 443 c1872-4W;443 c1872-4W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Admissions Higher education

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk