---

Traffic Congestion

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 5 March, Official Report, columns 607-609, what are the lengths of road classified as (a) orange and (b) red for traffic congestion according to the maps produced by the national roads network assessment systems for (i) 1995, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2015 in (1) London, (2) Southern, (3) Midland and (4) Northern regions. [20135]

Mr. Watts [holding answer 13 March 1997]: The table indicates the lengths of road (miles) classified as orange or red according to the stress maps produced by the national roads assessment system. The figures are given by region for 1995 and forecast years 2005 and 2015 for low and high traffic growth forecasts.

Year and traffic forecast

	1995	2005		2015
Region		Low	High	Low	High
London
Orange	24	70	67	38	30
Red	57	75	83	117	150
Southern
Orange	212	224	235	250	285
Red	83	211	294	341	519
Midland
Orange	171	301	385	395	485
Red	115	213	324	407	685
Northern
Orange	159	273	316	353	360
Red	61	142	258	309	573

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Examination Results

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of children (a) sat and (b) achieved grade A to C in (i) history, (ii) geography and (iii) Latin (1) GCSEs and (2) A-levels in 1996; and if she will make a statement. [19885]

17 Mar 1997 : Column: 422

Mrs. Gillan [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following table shows the number and percentage of pupils who (a) attempted and (b) achieved grades A to C in (i) history, (ii) geography and (iii) Latin GCSE and GCE A/AS level in England in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available. The figures for GCSEs relate to 15-year-old pupils in schools and those for GCE A/AS level to 17-year-old pupils in schools.

GCSE achievements of 15-year-old pupils in schools

	Number attempted	Percentage	Number achieved A*-C	Percentage
GCSE history	223,357	38.6	119,448	20.7
GCSE geography	259,291	44.8	130,295	22.5
GCSE Latin	11,790	2.0	10,817	1.9

GCE A/AS level achievements of 17-year-old pupils in schools

	Number attempted	Percentage	Number achieved A-C	Percentage
GCE A/AS history	24,292	17.2	13,850	9.8
GCE A/AS geography	26,373	18.7	13,683	9.7
GCE A/AS Latin	1,314	0.9	1,088	0.8

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of children (a) sat and (b) achieved a grade A to C in (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three or more live foreign language A-levels in 1996; and if she will make a statement. [19884]

Mrs. Gillan [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following table shows the number and percentage of 17-year-old pupils who attempted GCE A/AS modern foreign languages and achieved grades A to C in (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three or more modern foreign languages in England in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.

	Number of 17-year-old pupils	As a percentage of 17-year-old pupils
Attempted GCE A/AS language	22,233	15.8
Achieved 1 grade A-C	10,676	7.6
Achieved 2 grades A-C	2,765	2.0
Achieved 3 or more grades A-C	45	0.0

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of children (a) sat and (b) achieved a grade A to C in (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three or more science A-levels in 1996; and if she will make a statement. [19882]

Mrs. Gillan [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following table shows the number and percentage of 17-year-old pupils who attempted a GCE A/AS level in any science subject and achieved grades A to C in (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three or more science subjects in England in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.

17 Mar 1997 : Column: 423

	Number of 17-year-old pupils	As a percentage of 17-year-old pupils
Attempted GCE A/AS science	54,344	38.6
Achieved 1 grade A-C	17,201	12.2
Achieved 2 grades A-C	11,514	8.2
Achieved 3 or more grades A-C	1,825	1.3

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of children (a) sat and (b) achieved a grade A to C in (i) one and (ii) two or more live foreign language GCSEs in 1996; and if she will make a statement. [19883]

Mrs. Gillan [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following table shows the number and percentage of 15-year-old pupils who attempted a GCSE in any modern foreign language and achieved grades A to C in (i) one and (ii) two or more modern foreign languages in England in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.

	Number of 15-year-old pupils	As a percentage of 15-year-old pupils
Attempted at least one GCSE language	427,808	74.0
Achieved one grade A*-C	153,675	26.6
Achieved 2 or more A*-C grades	43,561	7.5

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of children (a) sat and (b) achieved a grade A to C in (i) one and (ii) two or more science GCSEs in 1996; and if she will make a statement. [19881]

Mrs. Gillan [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following table shows the number and percentage of 15-year-old pupils who attempted a GCSE in any science subject and achieved grades A* to C in (i) one and (ii) two or more GCSE science subjects in England in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.

	Number of 15-year-old pupils	As a percentage of 15-year-old pupils
Attempted at least one GCSE science	523,189	90.5
Achieved one grade A*-C	14,288	2.5
Achieved 2 or more A*-C grades	232,884	40.3

Teaching Qualifications

Mr. Caborn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students on completion of a postgraduate certificate of education or equivalent qualification gained qualified teacher status in (a) mathematics and (b) physics in each year from 1990 to 1996. [19902]

Mr. Forth [holding answer 11 March 1997]: The number of successful initial teacher training completers ¹ , trained for secondary education, whose first or second

17 Mar 1997 : Column: 424

subject of ITT was either mathematics of science ² from 1990 to 1995 are shown in the following table. Information for 1996 is not yet available.

	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95
Mathematics	890	950	1,250	1,450	1,640	1,660
Science	1,250	1,270	1,620	1,780	2,030	2,200

(12) Students who have successfully completed a course of initial teacher training leading to qualified teacher status (QTS).

(13) Students who have been trained to teach both maths and science have been recorded once only and assigned to their first subject.

Teachers' Superannuation

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in what respect the terms and conditions of the teachers' superannuation arrangements for fee-paying schools differ from those for the state sector. [20159]

Mrs. Gillan: Teachers at maintained schools become members of the teachers' superannuation scheme unless they elect not to do so. Those at independent schools become scheme members if the establishment is an accepted school under regulation B4 of the Teachers Superannuation (Consolidation) Regulations 1988 (as amended). There are no other appreciable differences between the provisions for maintained and independent schools.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional financial provision has been made for the teachers' superannuation regime for fee-paying schools. [20160]

Mrs. Gillan: In common with other employers of teachers, fee paying schools will benefit from the reduction in the employers' contribution rate from 8.05 per cent. to 7.2 per cent. with effect from 1 July 1997. In the independent sector, the reduction will save £9 million in a full year. That money can be used to fund premature retirements, if independent schools wish to use it for that purpose.

---