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Written question asked by Lynne Jones (Labour) on Thursday, 12 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 January 2006. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 March 2006 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Higher Education

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students who entered higher education in each year since 1996 went to universities that are members of (a) the Russell Group, (b) the 1994 Group and (c) the Coalition of Modern Universities; and what proportion in each category were from each socioeconomic group.
Answer

Information on the social background of entrants to higher education is published annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in ““Performance Indicators in Higher Education””. For every higher education institution in the UK, the figures show the numbers and proportions of young, full-time entrants to first degree courses from social classes HIM, IV and V (for 2001/02 and earlier) and socio-economic groups 4, 5, 6 and 7 (from 2002/03). This gives a partial picture due to the exclusion of entrants to other undergraduate courses, part-time and mature students from the figures. The aggregate figures for the various institutional groupings are summarised in the table.

Young entrants to full-time first degree courses 1997/98 to2001/02
Total youngentrants Russell Group 1994 group CMU All HEIs
1997/98 50,205 17,610 57,135 216,210
1998/99 51,610 17,640 57,575 216,130
1999/2000 53,110 18,250 57,215 219,790
2000/01 53,265 19,045 55,670 221,140
2001/02 56,885 20,500 56,360 229,750
of which:
Percentage from social classes HIM, IV, V
1997/98 15.8 16.6 33.3 25.0
1998/99 15.6 17.4 33.2 25.0
1999/2000 16.0 17.2 33.7 25.3
2000/01 16.5 17.7 33.7 25.4
2001/02 16.4 17.5 34.6 25.8
Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5 and percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. Source: HESA
(69) The percentages are based on students who provided details of their background, and exclude non-respondents. Social classes HIM, IV and V cover students from skilled manual, semi-skilled and unskilled backgrounds.
Young entrants to full-time first degree courses 2002/03 to2003/04
Total youngentrants Russell Group 1994 group CMU All HEIs
2002/03 58,480 21,890 56,945 239,180
2003/04 61,370 22,355 56,755 241,445
of which:
From socio-economic groups 4–7
2002/03 19.1 19.1 36.7 28.4
2003/04 19.0 20.3 36.7 28.6
Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5 and percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. Source: HESA
(70) The percentages are based on students who provided details of their background, and exclude non-respondents. National Statistics socio-economic classifications (NS-SEC) 4–7 cover students from small employers and own account workers, lower supervisory and technical, semi-routine and routine occupational backgrounds.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
43021; 443 c1436-7W;443 c1436-7W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Higher education Student numbers
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk