To ask the Scottish Executive how many students (a) applied for and (b) received funding through the Higher Education Childcare Fund in each of the last five years and what (i) average and (ii) total amount was received.

The table below shows the number of applications for support from the Higher Education Childcare Fund, instances of assistance from the fund, the total amount of funding distributed and the average amount of support per instance of assistance. The Higher Education Childcare Fund came into being in academic year 2005-06. It replaced the Mature Students Bursary Fund which was not restricted to funding for childcare only. Figures for academic years 2002-03 to 2004-05 relate to the Mature Students Bursary Fund.

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland management information provided by Scottish institutions.

Notes:

"Number of applications for assistance" and "Instances of Assistance" have been rounded up or down to the nearest five (e.g. one, two round to zero; three, four round to five).

"Total Amounts Issued" have been rounded to the nearest thousand and are quoted in thousands.

Average amounts have been rounded to the nearest pound.

Individual identifying details of students receiving help from the Higher Education Childcare Fund (and Mature Students Bursary Fund) are not held centrally. As it is possible that a student may receive help more than once from the fund there may be a degree of double counting in the management information. We therefore report number of applications and instances of assistance from the fund rather than the number of students assisted. Academic year 2006-07 is the latest for which data is available.