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Higher Education: Admissions

Volume 463: debated on Thursday 19 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of students applied for a university place on completion of their A-levels in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West and (c) England in each year since 1997. (148611)

The latest available figures on participation in higher education by local authority and region based on students entering courses were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in ‘Young Participation in England’, which is available from their website at:

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/

This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by local authority and region, for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures for Cornwall local authority, the South West region and the comparable figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced participation rates beyond 2000.

Young Participation Rate (YPR (A)) in Higher Education 1 for year cohort aged 18

Cohort for Cornwall2 (number)

Young Participation Rate (A) for Cornwall3 (percentage)

Cohort for South West2 (number)

Young Participation Rate (A) for South West (percentage)

Young Participation Rate (A) for England (percentage)

1997

5,750

31

55,000

30.7

29.2

1998

6,070

29

57,900

29.1

28.8

1999

5,940

29

56,500

29.1

29.2

2000

5,720

30

55,200

30.0

29.9

1 Covers all students studying Higher Education Courses at UK Higher Education Institutions and other UK institutions, for example Further Education Colleges.

2 Cohorts are reported to the nearest 10.

3 Young Participation Rates for local authorities are reported to the nearest per cent.

Source:

Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The main measure for tracking progress on increasing participation is currently the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR). This is the sum of the HE initial participation rates for individual ages between 17 and 30 inclusive. It covers English-domiciled first time entrants to HE courses, which are expected to last for at least six months, at UK Higher Education Institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh Further Education Colleges, and who remain on their course for at least six months. The latest provisional figure for 2005-06 is 43 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at local authority or regional level.

The HEIPR is available from the academic year 1999-00. It is the sum of the age specific initial participation rates for ages 17-30. The age specific initial participation rate for eighteen year olds is shown in the following table.

Number of initial entrants

HEIPR for 18 year olds (percentage)

1999/2000

115,100

19.3

2000/01

114,000

19.5

2001/02

118,20d

19.6

2002/03

122,40q

19.7

2003/04

124,700

19.2

2004/05

127,200

19.6

2005/06

141,700

21.3

Note:

Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.

The figures in the tables cover the whole population not just those completing their A-Levels.