To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the higher education participation rate was in each region of England in (a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 2002. [113063]
The Department has recently produced participation rates for 18-year-olds entering full-time undergraduate courses through the Universities and years 1997–98 to 2002–03 (the years for which data is available on a like-for-like-basis) with the year-on-year cash and percentage changes.Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The data cover the years back to 1994/95. Figures for the years 1994/95, 1997/98 and 2002/03 are given in the table.
| Participation by 18-year-olds in higher education by region | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Academic year | |||
| Region | 1994/95 | 1997/98 | 2002/03 |
| Greater London | 17.2 | 20.7 | 23.9 |
| South East | 21.1 | 23.0 | 23.3 |
| Eastern | 19.0 | 21.2 | 22.6 |
| North West | 17.6 | 20.2 | 21.8 |
| West Midlands | 16.9 | 19.5 | 21.7 |
| East Midlands | 17.1 | 19.8 | 21.5 |
| Merseyside | 16.1 | 19.6 | 21.4 |
| South West | 19.0 | 21.0 | 21.1 |
| North East | 15.7 | 17.5 | 19.8 |
| Yorkshire | 15.7 | 18.9 | 19.7 |
| England | 18.1 | 20.6 | 22.1 |
Note:
Participation rates have been calculated using the 17-year-old population from the previous year to reduce the distortion caused to LEA populations by the migration of students to their place of study. Figures exclude a very small number of accepted applicants of unknown English domicile. Population figures relate to persons aged 17 at 31 August in the year prior to entry, counts taken at the following 1 January; accepted applicants are aged 18 at 30 September in the year of entry.
These figures are calculated on a different basis to the Department's standard measures of participation in higher education, the Age Participation Index (API) and the Initial Entry Rate (IER), neither of which are available at regional level.