To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of A-Level students from each local education authority continued their education to university level in each of the last 10 years. (151153)

The latest available figures on participation in higher education by local authority 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, for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures cover all 18 or 19-year-olds, not just those with A-levels. HEFCE have not produced participation rates beyond 2000.

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 level.

The HEIPR is available from the academic year 1999/2000. It is the sum of the age specific initial participation rates for ages 17 to 30. The age specific initial participation rate for 18-year-olds is shown in the table. The figures cover the whole population not just those completing their A-levels.