Written question asked by Lynne Jones (Labour) on Friday, 22 February 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 March 2002. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 March 2002 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what her definition is of a high-ranking university as mentioned in Chapter 4 of `14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards'; and if she will collect information regarding the socio-economic background of students entering such institutions to enable comparisons with those entering other universities. - Includes ref to 'Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK' (HEFCE Report 01/69), available at: www.hefce.ac.uk/pi.

Answer: Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her definition is of a high-ranking university as mentioned in Chapter 4 of "14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards"; and if she will collect information regarding the socio-economic background of students entering such institutions to enable comparisons with those entering other universities. [38091] Mr. Ivan Lewis: The reference to "high ranking universities" is to those universities which have particularly demanding entry requirements, as the higher award is based on at least ABB grades at A level plus one AS level or on an NVQ level 4. The Higher Education Funding Council for England already collects and publishes information on the social class of students entering higher education, which is broken down by institution. It published the information for the academic year 1999-2000, "Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK", last December (HEFCE Report 01/69). This is available on the HEFCE website at www.hefce.ac.uk/pi.

Secondary information