Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of registered nurse apprentices which started in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.
Answered by Anne Milton
There have been 40,650 apprenticeship starts in Health, Public Services and Care, reported to date, in the first half of the 2017 to 2018 academic year (August 2017 to January 2018) in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.
We want to increase the number of nursing apprenticeships and now have a complete apprentice pathway from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice in nursing. This will support people from all backgrounds to enter a nursing career in the National Health Service.
The registered nurse (degree) apprenticeship standard was approved for delivery on 9 May 2017. To date, there have been 20 starts on the registered nurse (degree) apprenticeship in the 2017 to 2018 academic year (August 2017 to January 2018) in England.
We have also created a new programme for nursing associate apprentices to broaden the routes into the profession. 5,000 starts are planned in 2018, with a further 7,500 in 2019.
We are working closely with employers, Health Education England and ministers in the Department of Health to make sure the NHS is fully supported to recruit apprentices, both in nursing and in a range of other occupations.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds attending university.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Widening participation in higher education remains a priority for this government. We want everyone with the potential to have the opportunity to benefit from a university education, regardless of background or where they grew up.
University application rates for 18 year olds to full-time study remain at record levels. The proportion of disadvantaged 18 year olds entering full time higher education has increased from 13.6 per cent in 2009 to 20.4 per cent in 2017. Building on this our major review of post-18 education and funding will consider how disadvantaged students receive maintenance support both from government and from universities and colleges and how we can ensure they have equal opportunities to progress and succeed in all forms of post-18 education.
We have set up the Office for Students (OfS) with powers to drive forward improvements in access and participation and we have asked the OfS to do more to maximise the impact of spending in this area. In their business plan the OfS plans to evaluate the return on investment on access and participation. We have also asked the OfS to set up an Evidence and Impact Exchange to improve the impact and value for money of providers’ access and participation expenditure.
In addition, through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, we have introduced the Transparency Duty requiring registered higher education providers to publish data on application, offer, acceptance, dropout and attainment rates of students by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background. This will hold the sector to account for their record on access and retention of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and shine a light on where they need to go further.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the widening participation funding is deployed effectively.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Widening participation in higher education remains a priority for this government. We want everyone with the potential to have the opportunity to benefit from a university education, regardless of background or where they grew up.
University application rates for 18 year olds to full-time study remain at record levels. The proportion of disadvantaged 18 year olds entering full time higher education has increased from 13.6 per cent in 2009 to 20.4 per cent in 2017. Building on this our major review of post-18 education and funding will consider how disadvantaged students receive maintenance support both from government and from universities and colleges and how we can ensure they have equal opportunities to progress and succeed in all forms of post-18 education.
We have set up the Office for Students (OfS) with powers to drive forward improvements in access and participation and we have asked the OfS to do more to maximise the impact of spending in this area. In their business plan the OfS plans to evaluate the return on investment on access and participation. We have also asked the OfS to set up an Evidence and Impact Exchange to improve the impact and value for money of providers’ access and participation expenditure.
In addition, through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, we have introduced the Transparency Duty requiring registered higher education providers to publish data on application, offer, acceptance, dropout and attainment rates of students by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background. This will hold the sector to account for their record on access and retention of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and shine a light on where they need to go further.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of (a) the proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and (b) the number of BAME students entering higher education in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publish data on the proportion of 18 year olds entering full-time undergraduate higher education by disadvantage and ethnic group here: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-analysis-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-reports.
The requested information is summarised in the tables below.
Table 1 – Entry rates for English 18 year olds by POLAR quintile, a measure of educational disadvantage.
POLAR Quintile | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Q1 - Most Disadvantaged | 18.5% | 19.5% | 20.4% |
Q2 | 25.1% | 26.2% | 26.9% |
Q3 | 30.5% | 31.5% | 32.5% |
Q4 | 36.2% | 37.2% | 37.6% |
Q5 - Least Disadvantaged | 44.9% | 46.3% | 47.1% |
Table 2 - Entry rates for English 18 year old state school pupils by ethnic group
Ethnic Group | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Asian | 42.3% | 44.1% | 45.8% |
Black | 38.4% | 39.1% | 40.4% |
Chinese | 61.0% | 60.8% | 63.0% |
Mixed | 32.3% | 33.4% | 34.0% |
White | 27.9% | 28.9% | 29.3% |
Any other ethnic group | 36.8% | 38.0% | 40.1% |
The data shows disadvantaged 18 year olds and those from a BME background are more likely to enter full-time undergraduate courses than ever before.
Entry rates have been provided as they take account of demographic changes, enabling direct comparison over time and between different ethnic groups. However, data is also available on the number of students (of all ages) entering higher education by ethnic group and UK country of domicile who applied by the UCAS June application deadline here: https://www.ucas.com/file/139481/download?token=X4hqD5Ms.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds attending university.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Widening participation in higher education remains a priority for this government. We want everyone with the potential to have the opportunity to benefit from a university education, regardless of background or where they grew up.
University application rates for 18 year olds to full-time study remain at record levels. The proportion of disadvantaged 18 year olds entering full time higher education has increased from 13.6 per cent in 2009 to 20.4 per cent in 2017. Building on this our major review of post-18 education and funding will consider how disadvantaged students receive maintenance support both from government and from universities and colleges and how we can ensure they have equal opportunities to progress and succeed in all forms of post-18 education.
We have set up the Office for Students (OfS) with powers to drive forward improvements in access and participation and we have asked the OfS to do more to maximise the impact of spending in this area. In their business plan the OfS plans to evaluate the return on investment on access and participation. We have also asked the OfS to set up an Evidence and Impact Exchange to improve the impact and value for money of providers’ access and participation expenditure.
In addition, through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, we have introduced the Transparency Duty requiring registered higher education providers to publish data on application, offer, acceptance, dropout and attainment rates of students by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background. This will hold the sector to account for their record on access and retention of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and shine a light on where they need to go further.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Black British students achieved 3 'A' grades or higher in A Levels in each of the last eight years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of black students achieving[1] three A*-A grades at A level[2], split by ethnic group, from 2010/11 – 2016/17[3] are as follows:
Academic year | Number of students | Number achieving three A*-A grades |
2010/11 | 8,989 | 358 |
2011/12 | 9,415 | 343 |
2012/13 | 10,385 | 407 |
2013/14 | 10,622 | 400 |
2014/15 | 11,411 | 459 |
2015/16 | 9,457 | 449 |
2016/17[4] | 9,234 | 487 |
Figures for 2009/10 are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
[1] Based on students at the end of their 16-18 study.
[2] Based on students who entered for at least 1 A level or applied A level qualification. Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content, ‘discounting’ rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications.
[3] Figures are based on final data, except for 2016/17 which is based on revised data.
[4] The methodology through which student’s ethnicity is identified was changed in 2016/17. Up to 2015/16 a student’s ethnicity was taken from their census record three years prior to the academic year the figures are reported for. In 2016/17 a student’s ethnicity is taken from the census record of their final year of key stage 4 study (normally, three years prior). Due to this change, 2016/17 figures can not be compared to earlier years.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the GovernorLine service cost his Department to operate in each of the last five years; and how many people have used that service in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
GovernorLine was created in 2000 as a free, confidential telephone service for Governors, multi academy trust trustees and clerks to the board of government. Its use has been in decline for several years.
The table below shows the cost to the department and usage of the GovernorLine service in each financial year since 2012-13.
| Calls | Emails | Cost |
2012-13 | 4,333 | 1,130 | £142k |
2013-14 | 4,187 | 767 | £142k |
2014-15 (8 months) | 2,326 | 541 | £94.7k |
The GovernorLine service did not operate between November 2015 and July 2016. | |||
2016-17 (9 months) | 454 | 89 | £76.5k |
2017-18 (10 months to end January 2018) | 515 | 111 | £93.5k |
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration she gave to appointing a representative of the National Union of Students to the board of the Office of Students; and for what reasons she decided against doing so.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Schedule 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 sets out the criteria for the composition of the Office for Students board. The criteria was extensively debated by Parliament during the Bill – I refer the hon. Member to the debate at Report Stage: http://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-11-21/debates/3C2C0C73-35CF-4108-B68D-44820B49059B/HigherEducationAndResearchBill.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that students' views are represented on the board of the Office for Students.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Office for Students’ (OfS) central mission is to operate in the interests of student and its statutory duties reflect this. We will expect all members of the Board to engage with students to ensure they understand the issues that they face and have these as considerations when making decisions. However, to further strengthen the voice of students on the Board, the Higher Education and Research Act made provision for there to be at least one member of the Board with experience of representing or promoting student interests.
There is currently an interim student representative on the Board, who is also a full member of the Student Panel. The OfS’s Student Panel has been set up to advise the board and senior team of the OfS. It has thirteen members and this membership includes current undergraduate and postgraduate students, part-time and international students, prospective students and recent graduates. They will bring a diverse range of views and perspectives to bear on the work of the OfS.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria were used to assess the suitability of candidates for the board of the Office for Students.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 requires that the Office for Students must have a Chair, a Chief Executive Officer, a Director for Fair Access and Participation and between seven and 12 ordinary members. Schedule 1 of the Act sets out criteria for ministers to have regard to in making appointments.