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Higher Education: Admissions

Volume 495: debated on Tuesday 7 July 2009

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of applications from (a) school leavers and (b) mature students to higher education institutions for a first degree course in (i) a science, technology, engineering or mathematics subject and (ii) all subjects from school leavers were from (A) women and (B) men in each year since 1997. (282729)

Subject coding changed in 2002/03 so time series before and after are not necessarily comparable.

The latest figures showing applications by age are shown in the tables.

Applications to full-time first degree courses via UCAS from applicants aged 18 andunder

STEM subjects

All subjects

Female

Male

Total

Female

Male

Total

Number

1997

190,255

249,085

439,340

581,881

496,566

1,078,447

1998

192,605

251,052

443,657

594,400

499,737

1,094,137

1999

189,111

242,975

432,086

577,865

483,407

1,061,272

2000

184,698

234,488

419,186

564,226

469,084

1,033,310

2001

185,950

235,085

421,035

571,057

476,142

1,047,199

Change in subject coding

2002

198,011

233,179

431,190

587,495

484,308

1,071,803

2003

207,287

234,016

441,303

606,532

495,569

1,102,101

2004

208,847

229,896

438,743

611,088

494,385

1,105,473

2005

231,572

247,260

478,832

667,416

535,329

1,202,745

2006

235,496

249,907

485,403

667,263

537,803

1,205,066

2007

240,087

252,065

492,152

683,457

548,055

1,231,512

Change in maximum number of applications

2008

212,269

225,825

438,094

608,135

487,357

1,095,492

Proportion (Percentage)

1997

43

57

100

54

46

100

1998

43

57

100

54

46

100

1999

44

56

100

54

46

100

2000

44

56

100

55

45

100

2001

44

56

100

55

45

100

Change in subject coding

2002

46

54

100

55

45

100

2003

47

53

100

55

45

100

2004

48

52

100

55

45

100

2005

48

52

100

55

45

100

2006

49

51

100

55

45

100

2007

49

51

100

55

45

100

2008

48

52

100

56

44

100

Applications to full-time first degree courses via UCAS from applicants aged 19-20

STEM subjects

All subjects

Female

Male

Total

Female

Male

Total

Number

1997

82,947

113,259

196,206

269,444

251,571

521,015

1998

82,568

113,227

195,795

280,956

260,525

541,481

1999

85,841

118,197

204,038

285,449

266,680

552,129

2000

83,289

116,665

199,954

267,239

255,220

522,459

2001

80,974

115,532

196,506

263,833

253,292

517,125

Change in subject coding

2002

81,052

110,857

191,909

258,703

247,489

506,192

2003

84,602

111,508

196,110

271,369

256,044

527,413

2004

91,742j

114,601

206,343

288,370

269,287

557,657

2005

100,333

123,083

223,416

309,161

288,920

598,081

2006

99,383

120,189

219,572

298,240

276,044

574,284

2007

114,491

136,585

251,076

351,204

320,173

671,377

Change in maximum number of applications

2008

103,066

127,449

230,515

323,668

299,086

622,754

Proportion (Percentage)

1997

42

58

100

52

48

100

1998

42

58

100

52

48

100

1999

42

58

100

52

48

100

2000

42

58

100

51

49

100

2001

41

59

100

51

49

100

Change in subject coding

2002

42

58

100

51

49

100

2003

43

57

100

51

49

100

2004

44

56

100 j

52

48

100

2005

45

55

100

52

48

100

2006

45

55

100

52

48

100

2007

46

54

100

52

48

100

2008

45

55

100

52

48

100

Applications to full-time first degree courses via UCAS from applicants aged 21 and over

STEM subjects

All subjects

Female

Male

Total

Female

Male

Total

Number

1997

52,840

74,391

127,231

164,446

164,713

329,159

1998

49,028

66,088

115,116

154,752

149,573

304,325

1999

47,101

59,023

106,124

140,777

132,464

273,241

2000

47,679

58,897

106,576

128,568

120,212

248,780

2001

48,626

62,382

111,008

128,884

127,180

256,064

Change in subject coding

2002

53,375

68,034

121,409

137,169

134,977

272,146

2003

62,412

71,698

134,110

147,196

143,446

290,642

2004

69,806

76,350

146,156

160,453

151,392

311,845

2005

79,366

83,897

163,263

184,848

168,530

353,378

2006

79,885

77,808

157,693

186,528

155,813

342,341

2007

82,744

78,876

161,620

198,601

162,190

360,791

Change in maximum number of applications

2008

79,576

74,446

154,022

187,557

152,867

340,424

Proportion (Percentage)

1997

42

58

100

50

50

100

1998

43

57

100

51

49

100

1999

44

56

100

52

48

100

2000

45

55

100

52

48

100

2001

44

56

100

50

50

100

Change in subject coding

2002

44

56

100

50

50

100

2003

47

53

100

51

49

100

2004

48

52

100

51

49

100

2005

49

51

100

52

48

100

2006

51

49

100

54

46

100

2007

51

49

100

55

45

100

2008

52

48

100

55

45

100

Notes on UCAS application data:

1. In the academic years 1997/98 to 2007/08 each applicant could make up to six choices on their application form; in 2008 this was decreased to five.

2. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects are defined as the following subject groups:

Medicine and Dentistry, Subjects allied to Medicine, Biological Sciences, Vet Science, Agriculture and related, Physical Sciences, Mathematical and Comp Science, Engineering, Technologies, Architecture, Building and Planning, Combined Sciences. The tables above use this definition.

3. From 2002 entry, UCAS switched from using the Standard Academic Classification of Subjects (SCAS) to the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). Data reported for 2008 entry use JACS2, an updated version of JACS. For further information see:

http://www.ucas.ac.uk/he_staff/datamanagement/jacs/jacs20

4. From 2005, the former Social Work Admissions System (SWAS) was incorporated into the main UCAS system, therefore a small number of Social Work Postgraduate courses will be included in the data from 2005 onwards.

Source:

UCAS.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people resident in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) Staffordshire were admitted to universities in England in each of the last five years. (283851)

The number of all-aged entrants to higher education institutions in England from the Tamworth constituency and Staffordshire local authority area are shown in the table. Figures for the 2008-09 academic year will be available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in January 2010.

Entrants1 from Tamworth parliamentary constituency2 and Staffordshire local authority area2—English higher education institutions: Academic years 2003-04 to 2007-08

Tamworth

Staffordshire

2003-04

815

10,220

2004-05

750

9,585

2005-06

800

9,760

2006-07

855

9,360

2007-08

825

9,805

1 Covers undergraduate and postgraduate entrants to full-time and part-time courses.

2 The table does not include entrants where the parliamentary constituency and local authority area of the student cannot be established due to missing or invalid home postcodes.

Notes:

1. Figures are on a Standard Registration Population (SRP) basis and are rounded to the nearest five.

2. Figures exclude the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.

Source:

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).