asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish figures showing the intake of students of medicine during the last 10 years for which figures are available and the proportion of such students that is female; and if he will make a statement.

The information required is as follows:

Academic year	Intake of preclinical students to medical schools	Percentage of women in intake
1965–66	2,478	20·8
1966–67	2,502	22·7
1967–68	2,560	24·2
1968–69	2,693	25·5
1969–70	2,695	26·3
1970–71	2,878	28·2
1971–72	3,032	31·3
1972–73	3,323	32·1
1973–74	3,276	32·5
1974–75 (provisional)	3,275	34·1

During this period the number of women entrants has more than doubled compared with a 10 per cent. increase in the number of men. In recent years the proportion of women home applicants accepted by medical schools has been slightly higher than that for men.