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Agricultural Education
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to facilitate rationalisation of provision for agricultural education at higher and further levels to reflect changing economic conditions in that industry. [115760]
Mr. Wicks:
LANTRA, the National Training Organisation for the land based industries, has recently carried out a Labour Market Information and Skills Foresight Survey covering the land-based industries. This exercise provides the foundation for the forthcoming Workforce Development Plan to meet the skill and educational needs of the land-based industries, including agriculture, for the short and medium term. LANTRA is also consulting the agricultural industry on the viability and value of vocational qualifications. A project is underway to revise standards of competence within the land based sector to reduce duplication and increase the relevance of vocational qualifications. The work is due to be completed by 31 December 2001.
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For higher education, it is for individual institutions to make their own decisions about the scope of agricultural provision.
Mr. Yeo:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the decision by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to end the setting of GCSEs in agriculture after 2002. [114750]
Mr. Wicks
[holding answer 15 March 2000]: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is working with the awarding bodies to develop advice on the list of GCSE titles to be offered from 2001, QCA will consult widely as part of this exercise, and no decisions have been reached at this stage. There is a wide range of vocationally-related qualifications in agriculture and horticulture already available, including GNVQs in land and environment. We shall ensure that there continues to be an appropriate range of such qualifications in the future for young people.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on progress in developing the e-university concept. [115766]
Mr. Wicks:
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has responsibility for the development of the e-Universities project. It is intended to harness expertise in the public and private sectors to exploit information and communication technology and provide novel means of teaching and learning. To date, HEFCE has:
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if special arrangements are made to equalise the level of support for disabled students who have to cross from one part of the United Kingdom to another to study on account of their disability. [115768]
Mr. Wicks:
Currently, disabled students' allowances (DSAs) are available to all eligible students across the United Kingdom on the same basis. Additional travel costs, incurred by reason of a student's disability, are covered by the DSAs. Students with disabilities studying at least 50 per cent. of a full-time course in Scotland are currently eligible for DSAs. From September 2000, part-time disabled students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will also be eligible for DSAs.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what, in relation to the current assessment of academic teaching quality is (a) the annual cost to public funds in each of the last three years, (b) the estimated cost of compliance by the higher education sector and (c) the assessed benefits of the process. [115767]
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Mr. Wicks:
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has a statutory responsibility under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 for assessing the quality of the provision which it funds. Quality assessment/ subject reviews are carried out under contract between HEFCE and QAA, the cost of which for the last three years is:
established a Steering Group to commission studies to the concept and give practical and detailed advice on options for implementation;
approved and invited tenders for an initial feasibility study to flesh out the e-Universities concept, to begin by the end of February and report by summer;
commissioned a study into the market for virtual distance learning.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1997-98 (HEFCE and DENI) | 4.1 |
| 1998-99 (HEFCE only) | 4.2 |
| 1999-2000 (HEFCE only) | 5.6 |
The cost of compliance by the HE sector is not collected centrally.
Quality assurance provides: accountability for the use of public funds; public information on the purpose and quality of provision to prospective students and other stakeholders; encouragement to improve; and opportunities for sharing best practice across the sector.
Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list (a) the percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals in each of the grammar schools in England and (b) the average percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals in each local education authority where there are one or more grammar schools. [115505]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Information on free school meals for individual schools is not published centrally.
The available information on school meals is shown in the table.
(4) Includes selective grammar schools
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Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the average percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals in the (a) 100 and (b) 200 schools with the (i) highest and (ii) lowest proportion of pupils achieving five grade A*-C passes at GCSE in the last year for which figures are available. [115533]
Ms Estelle Morris: The proportions of pupils
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) in how many secondary schools fewer than 15 per cent. of pupils achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE in 1999; [115291]
(3) what proportion of pupils in schools in education action zones obtained five A*-C grade GCSEs in (a) 1998 and (b) 1999; [115295]
(4) how many pupils were excluded from schools in education action zones, expressed as a proportion of the number of pupils on roll, in (a) 1998 and (b) 1999; [115296]
(5) what was the rate of truancy of pupils in schools in education action zones, expressed as a proportion of the number of pupils on roll, in (a) 1998 and (b) 1999. [115297]
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Ms Estelle Morris:
There were 126 secondary schools in England where fewer than 15 per cent. of pupils achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE/GNVQ in 1999. The average improvement, between 1998 and 1999 in the percentage of pupils achieving Level 4+ in KS2 science test was, (a) 12 percentage points in schools in those education action zones which began in 1998-99, and (b) 10 percentage points in all maintained mainstream schools in England.
The percentage of pupils who attained 5 A*-C GCSE/GNVQs in schools in those education action zones which began in 1998-99 was 20 per cent. in 1998 and 23 per cent. in 1999.
"known to be eligible for free school meals"
averaged over the 100 maintained, mainstream secondary schools with the highest, and lowest, percentages of 15 year old pupils achieving five or more GCSE/GNVQ grades A*-C in 1999 were two and 44 per cent. respectively.
The proportions of pupils
"known to be eligible for free school meals"
averaged over the 200 maintained, mainstream secondary schools with the highest, and lowest, percentages of 15 year old pupils achieving five or more GCSE/GNVQ grades A*-C in 1999 were 3 per cent. and 42 per cent. respectively.
(2) what was the average improvement in science at Key Stage 2 in (a) schools in education action zones and (b) all schools between 1998 and 1999; [115293]
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