Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1702267

registered interest
date	18/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students came from a sixth form or college within 15 miles of their university in the period between 2015 and 2023.
tabling member constituency	Warwick and Leamington
tabling member printed	Matt Western
uin	22609
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>The information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 26/04/2024 11:40:49 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4617 label Biography information for Matt Western

1695867

registered interest
date	13/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of planned reforms to university admissions on the (a) number and (b) demographic of students applying to university.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	18581
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2024 answer text <p>Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous organisations responsible for their own admissions decisions. The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the HE admissions system is fair and works well for students.</p><p>UCAS have reformed the academic reference for 2024 HE admissions to provide clarity and improve fairness for applicants. UCAS have also consulted on reform of the applicant personal statement to simplify the process and ensure that universities hear from applicants in their own words.</p><p>The department will continue to work with UCAS and sector bodies to improve transparency of the university admissions process, enhance student choice, and to improve fairness for applicants of all backgrounds.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 21/03/2024 16:34:50 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1659540

registered interest
date	11/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the higher education sector on the availability of university places for domestic students.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	198708
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2023 answer text <p>The UK higher education (HE) system is amongst the best in the world. Attracting the brightest students internationally is good for our universities and delivers growth at home.</p><p>Domestic students continue to make up the vast majority of overall undergraduate students within UK universities. The proportion of international acceptances on results day this year was 12.3%, having been 14.7% at the same point in 2019.</p><p>This year on A level and T level Results Day, 186,710 English-domiciled 18-year-olds were accepted to HE providers in England compared to 162,680 in 2019.</p><p>Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access a world class education remains a top priority and is fundamental to the department’s ambition to level-up skills, growth, and economic opportunity across the country.</p><p>As autonomous bodies independent from the government, universities are responsible for their own recruitment decisions. Most universities have separate home and international student recruitment targets, set before the admissions cycle even begins. Universities plan their student numbers very carefully, not least because there are important implications for the provision of student support and wellbeing services, accommodation, and everything else needed to deliver the best student experience.</p><p>The department and I regularly engage with the HE sector to support policy making and delivery and did so throughout the 2023 cycle.</p><p>Most recently, on 7 September 2023, I attended the Universities UK annual conference and discussed how the government is supporting universities to maximise their immense economic and social impact. Key topics discussed included degree apprenticeships, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement and Horizon.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 20/09/2023 12:46:42 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1649978

registered interest
date	04/07/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the reasons for the difference in the number of men and women entering university.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	192280
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2023 answer text <p>A person’s access to university should not be determined by their personal characteristics, but by their ambition and ability. We want to provide a ladder of opportunity for everyone to get the education and skills they need for job security and prosperity and to support levelling up across the country, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic background.</p><p>There are challenges related to gender representation in higher education (HE). Data shows that more than half (50.6%) of female pupils from state-funded schools in England entered HE by age 19 by 2020/21, compared to 38.4% of males. The gap in progression rates between males and females rose from 11.4 to 12.2 percentage points between 2019/20 and 2020/21.</p><p>We know that prior attainment is a key determinant of successful participation in HE, and that is why we have asked universities to take on a more direct role in driving up the standards in schools.</p><p>Our access and participation reforms announced in 2021 are playing a pivotal role in ensuring that students are supported to access and succeed on the right course for them. As part of this refresh of the system, the Office for Students (OfS) has asked more institutions to set targets for increasing the proportion of level 4 and 5 qualifications, and higher and degree apprenticeships that they offer, so that more students can access flexible and skills-related courses.</p><p>In March 2023, the OfS launched its Equality of Opportunity Risk Register (EORR). This will empower HE providers to deliver interventions for groups of students least likely to experience equal opportunity in HE settings by highlighting 12 key sector risks and the groups most likely to experience these, including gender. We welcome the EORR as a key marker for social justice which will help ensure that no student groups are left behind.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 12/07/2023 16:11:18 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1586843

registered interest
date	17/02/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she had recent discussions with universities on taking steps to ensure that the statistics on the employment of former students on degree courses are accurate when universities offer courses to new students.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Charlotte Nichols
uin	147476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2023 answer text <p>As autonomous bodies that are independent from the government, universities are responsible for their own course advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority has produced guidance for providers on their responsibilities under consumer protection law, including what material information about courses they should provide to prospective students.</p><p>The department is working with the sector to agree ways in which providers might incorporate key pieces of data into their course advertising, so that students can better understand what course outcomes they might expect at the point at which courses are being sold to them.</p><p>The department is clear that universities should be transparent about the content of their courses and the likely outcomes that students can expect from them. Discover Uni, a tool which is owned and operated by the four UK higher education (HE) funding and regulatory bodies, is the official, authoritative source of information and guidance to HE courses in the UK. It is designed to help prospective students to make the right choices about what and where to study, by allowing users to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK. The Office for Students sets the expectation that HE providers will display a link to the Discover Uni website on their course website pages to help prospective students make informed decisions about the courses they sign up to.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 24/02/2023 15:13:06 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4799 label Biography information for Charlotte Nichols

1582613

registered interest
date	31/01/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of barriers for young white males from poorer backgrounds in securing places at university.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL5265
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2023 answer text <p>Access to higher education (HE) should be based on a student’s attainment and their ability to succeed, rather than background.</p><p>In November 2021, the department issued guidance to the Office for Students (OfS), asking it to refocus the access and participation regime to create a system that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout their education. This includes white working-class boys who continue to see lower entry rates than students from other ethnic groups, and from higher income households.</p><p>The OfS is working closely with providers to ensure a focus on delivering social justice by making getting on at university as important as getting in, and specifically on activities which have a direct impact on student attainment. Providers are also being encouraged to offer a greater array of pathways into HE, including more vocational and technical courses, and degree apprenticeships, so that more students can identify opportunities that match career ambitions, and so that employers can access the skills they need.</p><p>A large number of HE providers have drafted variations to their current access and participation plans to be implemented from September 2023. This will be followed by a full rewrite of their plans in line with these new priorities.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 13/02/2023 16:01:21 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1563598

registered interest
date	20/12/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of UK students who will seek places at UK universities in each of the next five years.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	114719
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/01/2023 answer text <p>Since education policy is a devolved matter, the department has not made an estimate of the overall number of UK students who will be seeking places at UK universities.</p><p>UCAS has stated that they expect the number of UK and overseas applicants to reach one million by the academic year 2026/27. This forecast is independent from the department and yet to be published in detail, but was mentioned in the UCAS publication titled Public Accounts Committee - Financial sustainability of the higher education sector in England (page 3), which can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.ucas.com/file/584491/download?token=IydiELPF" target="_blank">https://www.ucas.com/file/584491/download?token=IydiELPF</a>.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 13/01/2023 13:41:59 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1505586

registered interest
date	06/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in (a) the North East and (b) total were accepted into UK universities using T Levels in 2022.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	48339
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2022 answer text <p>The number of T Level students that were accepted into university on results day was 370, which was 71% of applicants. This number is likely to increase as students are placed into a university course through the clearing process, and UCAS plan to publish an updated statistic in due course.</p><p>Information on university places is held by UCAS, and therefore we are unable to provide information on T Level students entering university at a regional level.</p> answering member constituency Morley and Outwood answering member printed Andrea Jenkyns question first answered 20/09/2022 13:22:41 answering member 4490 label Biography information for Dame Andrea Jenkyns
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1490741

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of university applicants from deprived areas.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Dr Rosena Allin-Khan
uin	39931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2022 answer text <p>Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access a world-class education remains a top priority and the department expects universities to do all they can to support disadvantaged students. Record numbers of high achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds progressed into higher education (HE) last year and we want this progress to continue.</p><p> </p><p>While there has been a strong focus on ensuring more disadvantaged students get into HE, there has not always been as much consideration of the value of the courses they are admitted to.</p><p> </p><p>We want to ensure that courses are of genuinely high quality, with support for students to both complete their studies and develop the skills and knowledge that will lead to rewarding graduate employment or further study.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2021, we tasked the Office for Students (OfS) with creating an access and participation regime that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they are equipped to make informed choices and are able to access and succeed on high-quality courses which lead to good graduate employment. We have appointed John Blake as Director for Fair Access and Participation at the OfS and he is playing a pivotal role in driving this work forward.</p><p> </p><p>We have recently consulted on the design of a new National State Scholarship, worth up to £75 million, which will help the highest achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome barriers to attending and succeeding on the HE course that is right for them.</p> answering member constituency Morley and Outwood answering member printed Andrea Jenkyns question first answered 27/07/2022 10:52:56 answering member 4490 label Biography information for Dame Andrea Jenkyns
tabling member	4573 label Biography information for Dr Rosena Allin-Khan

1490303

registered interest
date	18/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement by the Chief Regulator of Ofqual on 30 September 2021 that exam results in 2022 will "reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019", whether (a) his Department or (b) UCAS have made a recent assessment of the number of students who will miss the requirements of their firm offer to study at university, relative to the numbers who missed such requirements in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2019.
tabling member constituency	Twickenham
tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
uin	38865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2022 answer text <p>The department is clear that exams are the best and fairest form of assessment for students to show what they know and can do. In 2022, students have taken exams and assessments in A levels, T Levels, and other post-16 qualifications for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These examinations took place with adaptations to reflect the disruption young people have faced to their education throughout the pandemic.</p><p>The grading of GCSEs, AS, and A levels is a decision for Ofqual, as the independent regulator of qualifications. This summer, results will be higher than when summer exams were last sat, but lower than in 2021, when grades were awarded by teacher assessment. This means the bar for achieving an A, for example, will not be as high as it might have been in 2019.</p><p>The department has asked Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member about the distribution of A level and GCSE grades in summer 2022, and the steps they are taking to inform parents about grading. A copy of her reply will be placed in the library of both Houses.</p><p>The department has, in collaboration with Ofqual, worked closely with the higher education (HE) sector in shaping the decisions around exams and assessments in 2022. Following Ofqual’s September 2021 announcement on grading, universities have set entry requirements and made offers to students according to this approach. Throughout the year, we have worked with the HE sector to brief providers on the approach to grading with extensive planning ahead of results day, including on operational readiness, and ensuring support is in place for students, whatever their next steps might be this summer.</p><p>Record numbers of students have applied to university this year. UCAS is expecting the majority of firm offer holders to gain a place at their firm choice university on A level and T Level results day. Students can have confidence that getting into HE is a fair process, with admissions teams taking into account the broad range of information about a student in addition to their predicted grades, including teacher references, and for certain courses with a 15 October application deadline, their performance in admissions tests.</p> answering member constituency Morley and Outwood answering member printed Andrea Jenkyns grouped question UIN 38864 38866 question first answered 25/07/2022 13:57:23 answering member 4490 label Biography information for Dame Andrea Jenkyns
tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson