- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to investigate the effects of its graduate endowment scheme on graduate debt.
Answer
Only graduates who beganfull-time degree courses from 2001-02 onwards, and who studied for at leastthree years, are liable to pay the graduate endowment. Mature students, thoseeligible for lone parents grant or disabled students allowance and those whoundertook nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses are exemptfrom liability. Payment of the graduate endowment is not due until 1 Aprilfollowing graduation and therefore the first cohort of graduates will not payuntil April 2005.
We will be undertaking asurvey of income and expenditure of students this year. The survey will focusprimarily on the income and expenditure which students have while studying. Itwill also collate the anticipated average debt on graduation and the extent towhich that debt relates to student loans or borrowings from commercial sources.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to investigate the effects of its graduate endowment scheme on the Scottish economy.
Answer
Only graduates who beganfull-time degree courses from 2001-02 onwards, and who studied for at leastthree years, are liable to pay the graduate endowment. Mature students, thoseeligible for lone parents grant or disabled students allowance and those whoundertook nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses are exemptfrom liability. Payment of the graduate endowment is not due until 1 Aprilfollowing graduation and therefore the first cohort of graduates will not payuntil April 2005.
We will be evaluating the effectsof the graduate endowment.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 19 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist primary school modern language teachers there are and what plans it has to train such specialists.
Answer
Information on how many specialistprimary modern language teachers there are is not available centrally. A modernforeign language is an option for specialist study within the Bachelor ofPrimary Education course and a training course to teach modern languages isavailable to qualified primary teachers.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many default notices the Student Loans Company has issued in each year of its operation, stating what percentage this represents of all students due to make repayments that year.
Answer
Information on individualstudent loan accounts is held by the Student Loans Company. The analysisrequested could only be obtained by examining the loan accounts of eachindividual borrower who had been in default. The company advises that such anexercise could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1571 by Mr Jim Wallace on 13 August 2003, whether the survey of income and expenditure of Scottish students will investigate graduate debt.
Answer
The survey will focusprimarily on the income and expenditure which students have while studying. Itwill also collate the anticipated average debt on graduation and the extent towhich that debt relates to student loans or borrowings from commercial sources.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many deferral applications the Student Loans Company has received in each year of its operation, stating what percentage this represents of all students due to being repayment that year.
Answer
The following table is a snapshot as at the commencement of the financial year indicated showing the percentage of borrowers in repayment against projections for that year.
| Start of Financial Year | Volume in Deferment (to nearest 1000) | Approximate % deferred against projected numbers in repayment |
| 1993 | 23,000 | 42.6% |
| 1994 | 61,000 | 42.0% |
| 1995 | 122,000 | 44.4% |
| 1996 | 207,000 | 47.3% |
| 1997 | 313,000 | 49.2% |
| 1998 | 361,000 | 42.3% |
| 1999 | 452,000 | 45.2% |
| 2000 | 552,000 | 46.4% |
| 2001 | 577,000 | 45.7% |
| 2002 | 596,000 | 48.0% |
| 2003 | 565,000 | 43.7% |
Source: Student Loans Company.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 9 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive why it has decided not to provide additional funding to enable local authorities to roll out the extension of the Sport Interactive programme.
Answer
It is for individual localauthorities and headteachers to decide whether they wish to introduce the sportinteractive programme within their schools. The Executive has committed £24million to the active schools programme over the three years to 2005-06 to takeforward its commitment to increasing levels of physical activity includingsports participation in our school children.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 9 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will fully fund the provision of school sports co-ordinators.
Answer
The Executive has committed£24 million to the active schools programme which is a merger, extension anddevelopment of the school sports co-ordinator and the active primary schoolsprogrammes. The active schools programme will be a partnership between sportscotlandand each of the 32 local authorities who will be expected to make a significantfinancial contribution.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 9 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has studied the results of sportscotland's Active Primary Schools pilot programme and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.
Answer
Sportscotland are currently considering a draft report of the evaluation of the active primary schools programme prepared by The ScottishCouncil for Research in Education. Sportscotland hope to be in aposition to publish the report shortly. The report will be available from sportscotlandand I will arrange for copies of the report to be deposited in the Scottish Parliament’sInformation Centre.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 9 February 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the success of the Sport Interactive programme in Scotland and its proposed introduction in Ireland, what additional support it will now give to the programme.
Answer
The development of the SportInteractive programme is a commercial venture by a private sector company andas such it would not be appropriate for the Executive to provide supportwithout going through a normal procurement exercise.
