Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Wednesday, 7 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 1 September 2004. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 September 2004 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 proportion of (a) full-time undergraduate students, (b) post-graduate students and (c) full-time students taking higher degrees through taught courses were from ethnic minority backgrounds (i) in 1997 and (ii) in the most recent period for which figures are available. - Including table.

Answer: Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) full-time undergraduate students, (b) post-graduate students and (c) full-time students taking higher degrees through taught courses were from ethnic minority backgrounds (i) in 1997 and (ii) in the most recent period for which figures are available. [183411] Alan Johnson: The latest available figures are shown in the table. Proportion of HE students from ethnic minorities1 UK HE institutions Percentage _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1996/97 2002/03 2 Full-time undergraduates 15 20 All postgraduates 15 22 Full-time taught postgraduates 26 34 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Based on those students who provided details of their ethnicity. 2 A new classification of ethnicity was introduced in 2001/02. The figures for 2002/03 include students recorded as "mixed white/ ethnic" who were not separately identified in 1996/97.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 183411; 424 c781W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Higher education Ethnic groups Minority groups Students Postgraduate education
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk