Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many welding apprentices there are currently in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of starts and enrolments on welding apprenticeship courses in England are shown in the table below.
| Standard name | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 reported to date |
Starts | Multi-Positional Welder (Arc Processes) (ST0350) | low | low | low | low |
Nuclear Welding Inspection Technician (ST0292) | 10 | 10 | 10 | low | |
Pipe Welder (ST0851) | 60 | 100 | 110 | 130 | |
Plate Welder (ST0852) | 210 | 250 | 340 | 290 | |
Welder (ST0349) | 340 | 310 | 340 | 250 | |
Enrolments | Multi-Positional Welder (Arc Processes) (ST0350) | 90 | 30 | 10 | low |
Nuclear Welding Inspection Technician (ST0292) | 20 | 20 | 30 | 20 | |
Pipe Welder (ST0851) | 120 | 200 | 260 | 340 | |
Plate Welder (ST0852) | 400 | 600 | 810 | 860 | |
Welder (ST0349) | 510 | 640 | 650 | 570 |
Note:
(1) Published in March 2025, the data set includes full-year figures from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and figures from August 2024 to January 2025 for 2024/25.
(2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.
(3) Total starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.
These figures are published in the ‘Apprenticeships’ accredited official statistics publication, which can accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 7744 on Engineering and Nuclear Physics: Higher Education, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of the (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate students who were enrolled in Nuclear and Particle Physics in the 2021-22 academic year that were international students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of JISC, collects and publishes data on student enrolments across all UK higher education providers. This includes data on full person equivalents (FPE) enrolled in different subject areas, categorised using the higher education coding of subjects (HECoS) system. Counts of enrolments in each HECoS group are published in Table 52 of HESA’s Student Data, available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52.
Enrolments in ‘Nuclear and Particle Physics’ are recorded under HECoS code 101077, and can be filtered to give counts by level of study and domicile.
For more information on HECoS see: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on (a) which universities offer courses in nuclear (i) physics and (ii) engineering and (b) how many (A) undergraduate and (B) graduate students are on such courses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of Jisc, collects and publishes data on student enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK higher education providers. This includes data on full person equivalents (FPE) enrolled in different subject areas, categorised using the Higher Education Coding of Subjects (HECoS) system. Further information on the HECoS system is available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos.
This data has been used to approximate which providers offered courses including elements of the HECoS subjects ‘Nuclear Engineering’ (HECoS code 100172) and ‘Nuclear and Particle Physics’ (HECoS code 101077) in the 2021/22 academic year, and how many FPEs were enrolled in each of these subjects. This information has been provided as an attachment.
For an up-to-date view of available undergraduate courses, including nuclear studies, please visit: https://discoveruni.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many vets graduated in the 2019-20 academic year; and how many veterinary students commenced courses in the 2020-21 academic year.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education (HE) in the UK. Latest statistics refer to the 2019/20 academic year.
Data on students obtaining qualifications at UK HE providers are available by subject of study and level of qualification obtained in the 2019/20 academic year in Table 50 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Data’ pages, available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-50.
In the 2019/20 academic year, there were 2,290 full-person-equivalent[1] undergraduate and postgraduate qualifiers in veterinary sciences at UK HE providers.
Data covering students entering courses in the 2020/21 academic year will be published by HESA in January 2022. The latest available statistics on students entering courses by subject studied can be found in Table 52: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52.
In the 2019/20 academic year, there were 2,990 full-person-equivalent1 undergraduate and postgraduate entrants to veterinary sciences at UK HE providers.
[1] Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. Refers to “05 Veterinary sciences” under the Common Aggregation Hierarchy of subjects: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos/cah-about.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley dated 17 November regarding Mr Asghar.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I can confirm that a response has been sent to the letter dated 17 November 2020, from the right hon. Member for Warley.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 16 June 2020 from the hon. Member for Warley on his constituent Angela Turner.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I can confirm that a response has been sent to the letter dated 16 June, from the right hon. Member for Warley.