Good stuff Nylock so you like facts and stuff like that. Perhaps you could help me here cos i was wondering if you could naswer these questions.
1 What % of the UK population attends private fee paying schools?
2 What % of H/E students come from fee paying schools?
3 What % of Oxbridge students come from fee paying schools?
4 What % of people worldwide have a higher education?
5 What is the annual subsidy given to H/E in the UK?
6 How much is the average paid by H/E students in annual tuition fees?
7 How much is the average paid by H/E students from fee paying schools?
Ok, i'll play... I hope you have your numbers to hand....
1 What % of the UK population attends private fee paying schools?
'Only 7 percent of our children go to private schools, yet they take about half of Oxbridge places and make up to 35 percent of "straight A" students. (Times: 1 Mar 01)'
'The UK independent sector as a whole educates around 628,000 children in around 2,600 schools. The independent sector educates around 6.5% of the total number of schoolchildren in the UK (and over 7% of the total number of schoolchildren in England) with the figure rising to more than 18% of pupils over the age of 16.(Independent Schools Council 2009)'
So, there we have it, even accounting for the 16+ age group a small minority of the total.
2 What % of H/E students come from fee paying schools?
'...the social gap is most acute at elite universities – only 16 per cent of students at Russell Group universities are from lower socio-economic backgrounds.' (T.H.E.2009)
In case you weren't aware, the Russell group comprises just 20 universities out of the entire HE sector. Please also bear in mind that FE colleges are able to deliver HE provision now also which puts that percentage into even greater relief as to do a HE course you are subject to the same fee and support structure as you are in a uni.
I will get more concrete numbers on this as the source material is tricky to get hold of outside the library but going on the ISC figures then approximately 20% of undergrads are from fee schools.
3 What % of Oxbridge students come from fee paying schools?
Around 45-55% depending on which stats you look at. Again, oxbridge represents just two institutions of the 20-strong Russell group. When you consider that the student body of oxford and cambridge universities combined is approximately 40,000 undergraduate places then pretty much 65-75% the entire private education provision is covered by just these two institutions... (there are more postgrad and research positions on top but we are just arguing the post-secondary to undergrad positions here as this is the overwhelming majority of HE positions).
4 What % of people worldwide have a higher education?
around 30-35% of OECD populations (depending on whose stats you look at) Dropping to around 4-6% for the rest of the world (T.H.E. 2009/U.N. 2007/OECD 2005-2008/PRB 2008)
5 What is the annual subsidy given to H/E in the UK?
HE Currently receives around 10 billion in govt spending out of a total education budget of 60 billion. The figures vary depending on whose you look at but those are an average. So around 17.5% of spending goes to HE -this is based on 2007 spending figures. More recent figures are quite tricky to get hold of but Education spending tends to get locked into multi-year cycles so '07 will have to do for now
6 How much is the average paid by H/E students in annual tuition fees?
Again, dependent on circumstance, course, college etc no one figure stands out but estimates range from 0 (fully subsidised) to the maximum allowable (currently around 5500 a year if i recall correctly). These are JUST the fees. general living expenses add up to 11k annually (again, dependent on area) -general expenses count as rent/rates/food. *Travel is considered seperately as are material costs. these can add up to another 5-7k depending on area etc (sourced NUS 2002-2007, IFL 2009)
7 How much is the average paid by H/E students from fee paying schools?
If you can find this stat, please feel free to enlighten me -i think i have done enough work for you tonight
But going by various uni guidelines, those that come from families that can afford to pay the fees end up paying up to the full cost.... 'Means testing' ring a bell?
Edit to add: *transport and materials works out to that figure over the three years of a degree course, the figures do not include returns to home for holidays/visits etc. The transport figures purely cover travel to and from the institution during the semesters.
aaah, how nice, you'll answer that - because you can come up with something grotesquely simplistic and comes halfway to making sense I imagine.
