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Special Advisers

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the Special Advisers in her Department together with their date of appointment and their responsibilities; which of them are authorised to speak to the media; and if she will make a statement. [1497]

Estelle Morris: Special Advisers have not yet been appointed.

Pupil-teacher Ratios

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pupil to teacher ratio was in secondary schools (a) in 1997 and (b) in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [1611]

Mr. Timms: The information requested is shown in the table.

The ratio has improved for the first time in 10 years, following the increases in funding we have made for schools: funding per pupil since 1997–98 has increased by an average of £540 in real terms.

Pupil:teacher ratio in maintained secondary schools

Position in January each year	Pupil:teacher ratio
2001(9)	17.1
2000	17.2
1999	17.0
1998	16.9
1997	16.7

⁽⁹⁾ Provisional

Maths Teachers

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there are for mathematics teachers in English secondary schools. [1614]

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 38W

Mr. Timms: At 18 January 2001 there were 410 full-time vacancies, which represents approximately 2.1 per cent. of mathematics teachers.

AS-Levels

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out the (a) remit and (b) timetable of the review of AS-levels and details of the process of reporting the results of the review. [1618]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The review will concentrate on the examination and assessment requirements of the new advanced level qualifications. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked for a first report in July on those issues and a further report in December in the light of the summer results.

The outcome of the QCA review will be made public together with the Government's response.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many pupils have sat the new AS levels in the current year; what the average number of subjects studied was; and what the cost of the new AS level exams has been for schools; [1626]

(2) how many students in further education colleges have undertaken AS levels in the current year; and what the cost of the exams has been to further education colleges. [1627]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not available, but an announcement on Advanced level results will be made on 16 August.

Departmental Responsibilities

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the areas of responsibility that have (a) been transferred from her Department to other Departments and (b) been transferred to her Department from other Departments since 8 June. [1619]

Estelle Morris: The Department for Education and Skills came into being on 9 June, with responsibility for the education, skills and lifelong learning responsibilities of the former Department for Education and Employment. Information on the distribution of the remaining responsibilities of the former DfEE is set out in the following table.

Transferred to	Areas of responsibility
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)	Employment policy
	Civil rights for disabled people
	Policy on age (with the exception of the Article 13 Employment Directive)
	Employment Service
	Sponsorship of the Disability Rights Commission
Home Office	Work Permits (UK)
Department of Trade and Industry	Implementation of Article 13 Employment Directive with respect to age, religion and sexual orientation
	Race equality in employment including Race Relations Employment Advisory Service
	Equality Direct
	Work-life balance policy
Women and Equality Unit (in the Cabinet Office)	Gender legislation and policy
	Sponsorship of the Equal Opportunities Commission
	Kingsmill Review of Women's Employment and Pay
	Sexual orientation issues (other than Article 13)

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 39W

International policy is being handled in a joint unit located in the DWP, reporting to me and to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. No responsibilities have been transferred from other Departments to the Department for Education and Skills.

Secondary Schools

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received regarding admission policies for secondary schools. [1620]

Mr. Timms: As part of the consultation exercise on the Green Paper "Schools—Building on Success", we received 421 responses from a number of organisations, LEAs, teachers, governors and parents which commented on secondary schools, some of which addressed admissions directly. Common themes have been the need for maximum access to good local schools, and for admission authorities to adopt a more co-ordinated approach to the admission process.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on admissions to secondary schools. [1624]

Mr. Timms: We introduced a new admissions framework for all schools in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Its aim was to promote parental choice and make the admissions system fairer and easier for parents. A new statutory requirement was imposed on admission authorities requiring them to consult each other annually, before determining their admission arrangements. Where local agreement cannot be reached, admission authorities can object to an independent Schools Adjudicator or, where appropriate, to the Secretary of State.

School admission arrangements are decided locally and admission authorities are free to choose what arrangements to use, although they must be clear, fair and objective and operated in a reasonable manner in line with guidance contained in the Code of Practice on School Admissions.

Parents have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel if refused a place at their preferred school.

Graduation Award

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultation has taken place with teachers on the introduction of the new over-arching graduation award for 19-year-olds. [1621]

Mr. Timms: The Government asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in December 1999 to consult on the "graduation certificate" proposal which was set out in the Social Exclusion Unit's report "Bridging the Gap: New Opportunities for 16–18 year olds not in Education, Employment or Training". The idea behind the certificate was to encourage all young people to stay in learning until 19.

The extensive consultation during 1999 and early 2000 covered a range of interested parties including teachers. We will consider what further consultation will be needed in taking forward the most recent proposal by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

2 Jul 2001 : Column: 40W

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions were held with the Learning and Skills Council on the introduction of the new graduation award for 19-year-olds. [1625]

Mr. Timms: The Further Education Funding Council was involved in exploring the proposal for a graduation certificate included in the Social Exclusion Unit's report "Bridging the Gap: New Opportunities for 16–18 year olds not in Education, Employment or Training". The Learning and Skills Council have an on-going role in the current work being done by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on that proposal, and they will be involved in the development of any new award.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the new graduation award for 19-year-olds will be available to those studying at the further education colleges post-16; and if further education colleges will be expected to hold graduation ceremonies. [1628]

Mr. Timms: The award would be for all young people to attain by 19 years of age, and would be available to young people learning in a variety of settings including further education colleges. We will need to consider what the appropriate form and content of any ceremonies to recognise and celebrate young people's achievement of the award should be.

Teacher Training

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out the targets for recruitment into teacher training for each of the next three years for (a) BEd courses, (b) PGCE courses and (c) GTTP. [1622]

Mr. Timms: The target for recruitment to initial teacher training courses at institutions in England for 2001–02 is 29,890. The indicative targets for 2002–03 and 2003–04 respectively are 29,535 and 29,095. The targets are not split between undergraduate and postgraduate provision. Decisions on the allocation of teacher training places, including between undergraduate and postgraduate courses, are made by the Teacher Training Agency.

My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment announced on 12 March this year an extra 570 places on the Graduate Teacher Programme that will bring the total, in due course, to 2,250 a year.

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