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Specialist Schools

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the specialist schools for which progress reports were submitted in September (a) 2000 and (b) 2001, broken down by (i) local education authority, (ii) specialism, (iii) status of the school, (iv) the total number of applications for places, (v) the number and percentage of pupils selected by aptitude, (vi) the number and percentage of pupils with statements and (vii) the number and percentage of pupils receiving free school meals. [68173]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 17 July 2002]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

School Statistics

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in secondary education in England there were and; how many and what percentage of pupils were in fee paying (a) secondary and (b) primary schools, broken down by sex, in each of the last three years. [68171]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 15 July 2002]: The available information is shown in the table below:

Pupils in Independent Schools: Numbers and as a Proportion of Total Pupil NumbersEngland

	Independent Schools
				All Schools (1)
			Percentage of pupils in independent schools (2)
	Total boys	Total girls	Total all pupils	Total boys	Total girls	Total all pupils	Total boys	Total girls	Total all pupils
January 2000
Pupils aged: Under 5	33,861	34,030	67,891	501,506	478,851	980,357	6.8	7.1	6.9
5 to 10	104,072	99,044	203,116	1,980,145	1,886,362	3,866,507	5.3	5.3	5.3
Total Under 11	137,933	133,074	271,007	2,481,651	2,365,213	4,846,864	5.6	5.6	5.6
11 to 15	110,253	103,014	213,267	1,583,332	1,513,934	3,097,266	7.0	6.8	6.9
16+ (3)	40,568	35,718	76,286	196,339	205,346	401,685	20.7	17.4	19.0
Total Over 11	150,821	138,732	289,553	1,779,671	1,719,280	3,498,951	8.5	8.1	8.3
Total	288,754	271,806	560,560	4,261,322	4,084,493	8,345,815	6.8	6.7	6.7
January 2001
Pupils aged: Under 5	34,848	34,918	69,766	498,930	475,563	974,493	7.0	7.3	7.2
5 to 10	105,215	100,379	205,594	1,968,070	1,873,140	3,841,210	5.3	5.4	5.4
Total Under 11	140,063	135,297	275,360	2,467,000	2,348,703	4,815,703	5.7	5.8	5.7
11 to 15	112,274	105,348	217,622	1,611,433	1,540,200	3,151,633	7.0	6.8	6.9
16+ (3)	40,589	35,682	76,271	199,850	206,933	406,783	20.3	17.2	18.7
Total Over11	152,863	141,030	293,893	1,811,283	1,747,133	3,558,416	8.4	8.1	8.3
Total	292,926	276,327	569,253	4,278,283	4,095,836	8,374,119	6.8	6.7	6.8
January 2002 (Provisional) Pupils aged:
Under 5	35,322	35,930	71,252	497,442	476,675	974,117	7.1	7.5	7.3
5 to 10	105,677	101,394	207,071	1,944,804	1,851,210	3,796,014	5.4	5.5	5.5
Total Under11	140,999	137,324	278,323	2,442,246	2,327,885	4,770,131	5.8	5.9	5.8
11 to 15	114,729	108,094	222,823	1,630,271	1,558,345	3,188,616	7.0	6.9	7.0
16+ (3)	40,881	37,711	78,592	201,018	209,860	410,878	20.3	18.0	19.1
Total Over 11	155,610	145,805	301,415	1,831,289	1,768,205	3,599,494	8.5	8.2	8.4
Total	296,609	283,129	579,738	4,273,535	4,096,090	8,369,625	6.9	6.9	6.9

(1) Includes all pupils in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, maintained and non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units, city technology colleges, direct grant nurseries and independent schools.

(2) Expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in all schools.

(3) Excludes pupils in sixth form colleges and further education colleges.

Source:

Annual Schools' Census.

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Foreign Teachers

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance her Department gives to schools seeking to recruit teachers from abroad. [70181]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 17 July 2002]: The Department does not give any special assistance to schools for overseas recruitment. But more broadly, my right hon. Friend has allocated £44 million from the recruitment and retention fund for 2002–03 to schools in areas where the cost of living can make it harder to attract and keep the best teachers, following the £33 million allocated last year. A new Recruitment and Retention Unit in the Government Office for London will also support London LEAs in, amongst other things, overseas recruitment.

School Expulsions

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were expelled from school in Somerset over the last two years. [69398]

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

Number of Permanent Exclusions from schools (1) in Somerset Local Education Authority

	1998–99
1999–2000
	Number of permanent exclusions	Percentage of the school population (2)	Number of permanent exclusions	Percentage of the school population (2)
Somerset	63	0.09	62	0.09

(1) Maintained primary and secondary schools and maintained and non-maintained special schools

(2) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the headcount of pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools and special schools.

Source:

Annual Schools Census

Further Education

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the reasons for the delays in notifying colleges of their funding allocations for 2002–03; and what instructions she has given the Learning and Skills Council to ensure that colleges, have adequate time to fulfil its requirement that corporations must approve a budget before the beginning of its funding year on 1 August. [68514]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 July 2002]: It is hard to compare progress on final allocations in 2002–03 with earlier years since the process is now different. In the past, the allocation of funding to colleges did not take into account colleges' previous performance. The old system of funding led to some colleges bidding and receiving funding for unachievable growth targets, retaining funds which their performance did not justify (last year estimated at over £150 millions) which could more usefully have been allocated elsewhere, and ultimately having to pay the money back.

This year, as part of our drive to improve standards, performance and efficiency, and target funding where it can have the most impact, the Learning and Skills Council

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(LSC) has used its budgetary discretion so that money is allocated more effectively. It has introduced new arrangements which will stimulate growth, particularly for 16–18 year olds and basic skills, by putting in place a more robust allocations process and challenging those providers who have consistently been unable to achieve their projected performance levels in the past. This process has led to detailed and at times protracted negotiations with some providers. However it has ensured that we no longer have millions of pounds sitting in college bank accounts not working effectively towards our priorities.

Despite this change which might have been expected to cause delays, by 5 July the LSC had made 313 (48 per cent) final allocations to colleges. This is well ahead of last year when only 16 per cent of institutions had received final allocations by the first week in July. We recognise however that there is still considerable scope for improvement and the LSC is looking at ways of doing better in the future so that final allocations can be made even earlier.

Dyslexia

Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training is required for teachers to deal with pupils diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. [70156]

Stephen Twigg: It is important that all teachers are properly prepared for the range of special educational needs (SEN) they will encounter in schools. That is why, as part of their initial teacher training, all student teachers must show that they understand their responsibilities under the SEN Code of Practice, and know how to seek advice where necessary. These skills are reinforced and developed during their induction period, when teachers have to demonstrate that they can plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils with SEN.

There are no specific training requirements placed on teachers in relation to dealing with pupils diagnosed with either Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia. However, opportunities for in-service training and continuing professional development for teachers in post are supported under the training component of the SEN category of the Department's Standards Fund, through which £91 million of locally supported expenditure is available for SEN in 2002–03. Under the Standards Fund, LEAs and schools can draw on grant aid to address the training and development needs of teachers, and other staff, in relation to particular SEN conditions, including ADHD and dyslexia. The support on offer covers activity ranging from awareness raising events to more specialised in-depth training. It is, however, for individual local education authorities and schools to determine and prioritise the training and development needs of their staff, in the light of local circumstances. We have also introduced in 2002–03 two new £1 million funding streams, under the SEN Small Programme Fund and the SEN Training and Development Fund, to support the creation of new or extended training opportunities and resources for teachers and other staff. Under these initiatives, competitive bids were invited from voluntary organisations and higher education institutions. Included amongst the successful bids were a number of ADHD and dyslexia projects.

19 Jul 2002 : Column 647W

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