Chamber and committees

The Disclosures issued by DisclosureScotland record the criminal record status of the applicant at the point in timethe disclosure was produced. Standard and Enhanced Disclosures relate to specifictypes of post, namely those posts excluded by law from the provisions of the Rehabilitationof Offenders Act. Additionally, Enhanced Disclosures relate to posts which involveregularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of childrenor vulnerable adults. The question of the validity of disclosures in relation tochanges in employer has to be seen in this context.

The Scottish Executive does not set benchmarks for non-completion either for the sector as a whole or for individual institutions. However, the performance indicators published annually by the funding councils include calculations of benchmark figures for individual institutions on a range of measures, including for new entrants whose projected outcome at the end of their first year was neither an award nor a transfer to another higher education institute (HEI).

The table shows the benchmark percentage per institution. The benchmark represents only the expected performance of each institution based on average actual performance across the sector, after taking account of some of the factors which contribute to the differences between institutions such as subjects of study available and the age and previous qualifications of entrants. The performance indicators, and their associated benchmarks, are not targets. They simply contribute to the range of information which is gathered on our HEIs and their students.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) introduced its Widening Access Premium in 2001-02. The premium is to support institutions in improving the retention and progression of students from under-represented areas. In 2004-05, SHEFC will allocate over £5 million through the Widening Access Premium.

We are at present working with the representative bodies in the sector and the funding council to set new sector-wide targets for improvement in access from the most economically disadvantaged groups and for the retention of students of all backgrounds, and will monitor performance against these.

We are also supporting initiatives which will help those entering higher education to choose the most relevant course for them, and which will improve the quality of the student experience, both of which should have a positive impact on retention. To this end, we will improve the quality and consistency of information for all learners to ensure that they have a seamless service incorporating the provision of information and guidance. We are encouraging the development of more creative and flexible provision which recognises and responds to diverse needs. We are also supporting the new quality enhancement arrangements, under which HEIs will be expected to demonstrate that they have clear, well-managed strategies for promoting constant quality improvement across all aspects of learning and teaching. The Executive particularly welcomes the close involvement of students’ representatives in designing and implementing this new system, and the recognition in the new arrangements of the importance of theoverall quality of the student experience.

Institution	Bench-Mark, Neither Award Nor Transfer
	2000-01	1999-2000	1998-99
	%	%	%
University of Aberdeen	16	16	15
University of Abertay Dundee	19	17	17
University of Dundee	15	14	14
University of Edinburgh	8	8	9
Edinburgh College of Art	14	14	17
University of Glasgow	11	13	15
Glasgow Caledonian University	16	17	16
Glasgow School of Art	13	16	18
Heriot-Watt University	14	14	15
Napier University	18	18	19
University of Paisley	16	17	16
Queen Margaret University College	16	15	15
Robert Gordon University	16	16	16
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama	17	17	15
University of St Andrews	9	9	10
University of Stirling	16	16	15
University of Strathclyde	12	12	13

Source: HEFCE

Decisions about the appointmentof individuals to posts which involve working with children and vulnerable adultsneed to be considered very carefully and a range of pre‑employment checks,including a criminal record check, should be carried out. Where, in exceptionalcircumstances, an employer feels it is essential to appoint an individual to sucha post pending receipt of a disclosure from Disclosure Scotland, but after all otherpre-appointment checks are completed, the employer should consider appointing theindividual on a temporary contract and ensure that the person concerned does notwork unsupervised when dealing with children or vulnerable adults.

The successful implementationof the teachers’ agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century offersconsiderable incentives to attract people into teaching.

In addition, we have earmarked£150,000 for this purpose and are currently devising a recruitment strategy.

We also promote teaching at arange of careers events throughout Scotland and maintain a dedicated website www.teachinginscotland.com which iscurrently being up‑dated.

All these approaches will havea greater or lesser impact outside Scotland.

The costs to the Executive arethe long-run resource cost of providing student loans to Scottish domiciled studentsand a proportionate share of the running cost of the Student Loans Company. Themost recent estimate for 2003-04 suggests that this average cost is 38.3p in every£1 loaned.

To teach in education authorityschools in Scotland teachers must be registered with the General TeachingCouncil for Scotland (GTCS). The table below sets out the number of teachers fromoutwith Scotland gaining admission to the GTCS’s register in each of thelast five years. The figures may exclude those teaching in the independent sectoras they are not required to register with the council. They will also exclude teacherswho were previously registered with the GTCS but who have been teaching outwithScotland. Information on the employment pattern of those who achieve exceptionaladmission to the register is not held centrally.

Number of ExceptionalAdmissions to the General Teaching Council for Scotland Register

Year
1999	689
2000	619
2001	693
2002	696
2003	731

 

Non-completion rates are notcurrently published for higher education institutions (HEIs) in Scotland. TheHigher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) produces and publishes annualperformance indicators for all UK HEIs on behalf of the four UK funding bodies.The performance indicators include a projected outcome for new entrants to full-timefirst degree courses at the end of their first year of study. These give some indicationof expected completion and non-completion rates. The latest figures available coverstudents who entered courses in 2000-01.

The following table shows thepercentage of new entrants in 2000-01 whose projected outcome at the end of theirfirst year was neither an award or a transfer to another HEI.

Percentage of Full-Time StudentsStarting First Degree Courses in 2000-01 with a Projected Outcome at the End of the First Year of Neither an Award nor a Transfer

Institution	Percentage
All Scottish HEIs	17
University of Aberdeen	20
University of Abertay Dundee	20
University of Dundee	16
University of Edinburgh	9
Edinburgh College of Art	12
University of Glasgow	14
Glasgow Caledonian University	23
Glasgow School of Art	16
Heriot-Watt University	13
Napier University	20
University of Paisley	26
Queen Margaret University College	17
Robert Gordon University	18
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama	12
University of St Andrews	7
University of Stirling	16
University of Strathclyde	17

Source: HEFCE.

Data for earlier years are availablefrom the HEFCE website. The web address forthis website is http://www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/perfind/default.asp.

I refer the member to the answergiven to S2W-7716 on 6 May 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http:///www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The costs to the Executive arethe long-run resource cost of providing student loans to Scottish domiciled studentsand a proportionate share of the running cost of the Student Loans Company. Themost recent estimate for 2003-04 suggests that this average cost is 38.3p in every£1 loaned. The student loans cash budget for 2003-04 was £224 million, which givesan estimated resource cost of £86 million.

The Scottish Executive’s shareof the running costs budget of the Student Loans Company is £5.178 million for 2003-04.

The Executive is committed tothe protection of playing fields through the planning system. Primary responsibilityfor the protection of playing fields lie with local authorities and robust planningpolicies are required to safeguard playing fields where they contribute to localcommunity needs and enjoyment. Sportscotland play an effective role in thisprocess and will object to planning applications proposing development on playingfields unless it can be demonstrated that the playing fields are surplus to requirementsand will not be required in the future.