Higher Education

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many additional student number places funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England there will be (a) in total and (b) for full-time, first year undergraduates in 2010-11. (291617)

In his letter of 6 May the then Secretary of State informed HEFCE that up to 10,000 additional student numbers (ASN) could be awarded in 2010-11, with that figure to be finally confirmed in the next annual grant letter. At this stage in the cycle of negotiations with institutions it is not possible to determine the breakdown of those places.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what proportion of university students who started their course in each year since 1997 had parents in the (a) A, (b) B, (c) C1, (d) C2, (e) D and (f) E social grouping; (292127)

(2) what proportion of students from Cornwall who started a higher education course in each year since 1997 had parents in the (a) A, (b) B, (c) C1, (d) C2, (e) D and (f) E social grouping.

The latest information on socio-economic classification from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is shown in the table. Parental socio-economic classification information is self-reported by entrants aged under 21, therefore figures are restricted to this group of entrants. This information should be regarded with caution due to the high proportion of students who fail to report their parents’ occupations, or who provide incomplete or imprecise information. Figures prior to 2002/03 are not comparable due to the change from social class to socio-economic classification.

Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available in January 2010.

*Full-time undergraduate entrants by local authority and socio-economic classification, UK higher education institutions*¹*, academic years 2002/03 to 2007/08*
Academic year	Local authority	Higher managerial and professional occupations	Lower managerial and professional occupations	Intermediate occupations	Small employers and own account workers	Lower supervisory and technical occupations
2002/03	All entrants⁴	17	22	10	5	3
	of which; Cornwall	14	24	9	8	4

2003/04	All entrants⁴	19	25	10	6	4
	of which; Cornwall	15	24	11	9	5

2004/05	All entrants⁴	18	25	10	6	4
	of which; Cornwall	14	24	9	8	5

2005/06	All entrants⁴	17	23	10	5	4
	of which; Cornwall	13	23	9	8	5

2006/07	All entrants⁴	17	22	9	6	4
	of which; Cornwall	12	25	10	9	5

2007/08	All entrants⁴	17	22	9	5	3
	of which; Cornwall	14	24	9	10	5

Academic year	Local authority	Semi-routine occupations	Routine occupations	Never worked and long-term unemployed²	Missing/not classified	Total
2002/03	All entrants⁴	7	4	0	31	100
	of which; Cornwall	7	4	0	30	100

2003/04	All entrants⁴	8	4	0	25	100
	of which; Cornwall	9	3	0	24	100

2004/05	All entrants⁴	8	4	0	26	100
	of which; Cornwall	8	4	0	28	100

2005/06	All entrants⁴	8	4	0	30	100
	of which; Cornwall	8	4	0	30	100

2006/07	All entrants⁴	8	4	0	32	100
	of which; Cornwall	9	4	0	26	100

2007/08	All entrants⁴	8	4	0	31	100
	of which; Cornwall	9	4	0	24	100
¹Excludes the Open university due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series. ²Information is not comprehensively collected on the ‘never worked and long-term unemployed’ category for students: Students who fit this group are usually classed as having missing information. ³Covers students whose socio-economic classification was missing or not classified: not classified includes occupations which were inadequately described, not classifiable or unstated. ⁴Covers entrants of all domiciles. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Volume 497: debated on Wednesday 14 October 2009