To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was to his Department of media and voice training for ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [123121]

We have no record of any Minister in this Department receiving media or voice training since 1997.We do not hold information centrally on any such training undertaken by officials and would only be able to collect it at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, columns 677-68W, on medical schools, what additional funding is attracted by applicants for medical schools with the equivalent of (a) more and (b) less than 3 Cs at A level who attend the same medical schools. [125672]

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocate funding for widening participation and improving retention by assigning students to one of six categories. There are two age categories (which relate to whether the student is under or over the age of 21), each of which is divided into three risk categories as follows:The number of entrants to medicine, dentistry or veterinary science are, shown in the table:

	Young entrants (under 21)	Mature entrants (over 21)
1997/98	5,540	1,250
1998/99	5,400	920
1999/2000	5,720	950
2000/01	5,900	1,210

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, columns 677-78W, on medical schools, what the (a) drop-out rate from medical schools and (b) drop-out rate from medical schools for students who attract additional funding because they have pre-entry qualifications lower than the equivalent of 3 Cs at A level were in each of the last five years. [125674]

In 1999/2000, the non-completion rate following year of entry for young students on medicine, dentistry or veterinary science courses was 2 per cent. This figure has remained broadly static since 1997/98. For students with the equivalent of less than 17 points at A level, the non-completion rate was 5 per cent. in 1999/2000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications there were for each place at medical schools in the last year for which statistics are available; and what the average A level points score was of the successful candidates. [124170]

Figures available are from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and cover applications and acceptances for full-time entrants to first degree courses at UK institutions. Information covering entry in autumn 2002 is in the table.

Applicants1 and acceptances to medical schools through UCAS by domicile, 2002 entry
	Applicants	Acceptances
Home	9,498	6,287
EU	666	142
Other overseas	1,771	530
All domiciles	11,935	6,959
1 In 2002, each applicant could make up to 6 applications of which up to four could be to medical schools.

The figures show that there were 1.7 applicants for each medical school place.The UCAS tariff was introduced for 2002 entry and replaced the 'A' level points score. The tariff establishes agreed equivalences between different types of qualifications and reports achievement for entry to Higher Education in a numerical format. This allows comparisons between applicants with different types and volumes of achievement. In 2002 the average tariff score relating to solely A level qualifications, for UK domiciled accepted applicants with 2 or more A levels was 405.6 (where an A grade at 'A' level is equivalent to 120 points and lower points scores relate to other grades).