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Higher Education

Volume 497: debated on Wednesday 14 October 2009

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 institutions1, 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

1 Excludes the Open university due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.

2 Information 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.

3 Covers students whose socio-economic classification was missing or not classified: not classified includes occupations which were inadequately described, not classifiable or unstated.

4 Covers entrants of all domiciles.

Note:

Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population.

Source:

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).