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Year 12 Pupils

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many year 12 pupils are expected to be in full-time education in (a) September 2002 and (b) January 2003; and how many were in full-time education in (i) September 2001 and (ii) January 2002. [73708]

Mr. Miliband: Figures on participation in education are compiled using information available around the end of the calendar year, and that information relates to pupils by their age at the start of the academic year.

Provisional figures collected around the end of 2001 showed that there were 218,000 pupils aged 16 in schools and 232,000 in further education in England.

Projections indicate that there will be approximately 221,000 16 year olds in schools and 239,000 in further education around the end of 2002.

Performance Bonuses

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which schools have received a special achievement bonus in the past five years, broken down by region. [73850]

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Mr. Miliband: School Achievement Awards were made for the first time in 2001. Details of the 2001 awards and those made in 2002 have been published on the Department's Teachernet website where the award winning schools are listed under each Government Office Region. (http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/Manage- ment/pay and performance/schoolachievementawards/)

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what types of special achievement bonuses for schools are available; and what the criteria are for earning them; [73847]

(2) what plans she has to introduce further bonuses to encourage improving school performance. [73848]

Mr. Miliband: The Department's School Achievement Awards Scheme allocates #60million to our 7,000 best and most improving schools. Awards must be used to fund staff bonuses for which all staff, not just teachers, are eligible. They have been made for the second time this year and were awarded to schools:

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where pupil performance in 2001 was substantially better than in 1998;
where pupil performance in 2001 was better than most schools in similar circumstances; and
that have come out of special measures in the 2000/01 school year.

Third round award-winners will be announced in Spring 2003. The scheme is separate from the financial support the Department gives to schools for threshold pay and performance related pay for teachers.

Assessment Test Scores

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average assessment test scores for secondary school students have been over the last five years, broken down by region. [73851]

Mr. Miliband: The following tables show the percentage of pupils who achieved level 5 or above in the Key Stage 3 tests in each Government Office Region in England between 1998 and 2002.

		1998			1999
	English	Maths	Science	English	Maths	Science
North East	60	55	52	59	57	51
North West	65	58	54	63	60	53
Yorkshire and the Humber	61	57	53	61	59	52
East Midland	63	60	56	62	63	56
West Midland	62	56	53	63	59	51
East of England	66	64	60	65	67	60
London	62	52	49	60	56	48
South East	69	64	62	70	67	60
South West	67	63	60	67	66	59
England	65	59	56	64	62	55
		2000			2001
	English	Maths	Science	English	Maths	Science
North East	61	61	56	63	63	63
North West	63	64	58	65	65	64
Yorkshire and the Humber	61	61	56	62	63	63
East Midland	63	66	61	63	67	67
West Midland	63	62	57	63	64	64
East of England	66	69	64	67	70	70
London	61	59	51	62	61	58
South East	68	69	64	69	70	71
South West	66	68	64	67	70	70
England	64	65	59	65	66	66

		2002
	English	Maths	Science
North East	65	64	63
North West	67	66	65
Yorkshire and the Humber	64	64	64
East Midland	65	68	68
West Midland	65	65	65
East of England	67	70	70
London	63	63	61
South East	69	70	70
South West	68	70	70
England	66	67	66

Note:

2002 Government Office Region figures are ''early statistics''

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Internet Access

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding the Government provides towards promoting internet access in schools in the last year in classrooms; and what programmes the Government funds that promote the use of the internet. [73846]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government made available #245 million through the Standards Fund in the last financial year (2001–02) for information and communications technology (ICT) in schools. This includes funding for equipment and content as well as for the Internet. Statistics published on 29 August tell us that over 99 per cent. of all schools in England were connected to Internet at April 2002 and that computer to pupil ratios are now one computer for every six secondary school pupils and one computer for every 9.7 primary school pupils.

The main programme to promote the use of the Internet in schools over the last four years has been the National Grid for Learning strategy which is now part of the overall ICT in Schools Programme.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools broken down by region, have internet access. [73843]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information is not available.

It is estimated from a recent sample survey of schools that over 99 per cent. of both primary and secondary schools in England were connected to the internet at 31 March 2002. The sample size was not large enough to support regional estimates.

Information for England 2002 was published in Statistical First Release 19/02 ''Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2002: Provisional'', which is available on my Department's web-site www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics and from the Library.

Secondary Schools

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place to improve the secondary education of students and the recruitment of teachers. [73838]

Estelle Morris: Investment for Reform, published in July, sets out our intentions for reforming the secondary education system. A record #12.8 billion increase in education investment over the next 3 years, together with measures in the Education Act 2002 will provide a firm basis for further reform and improvement, and higher standards.

A range of measures has been introduced to boost teacher recruitment. From September 2000, #6,000 training bursaries have been paid to eligible students on postgraduate courses that lead to qualified teacher status. For those who train in and then go on to teach in shortage subject areas a #4,000 ''golden hello'' payment is made after induction has been completed. These measures helped to ensure that there were 29,045

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new entrants to initial teacher training courses in 2001–02, more than any year since 1994 and 1,330 more than 2000–2001.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what tests are used to assess whether secondary schools are improving; and if she will make a statement on the methodology of these tests. [73839]

Mr. Miliband: Secondary school performance and improvement are assessed on a number of bases, including the performance of their pupils in public examinations (GCSEs/GNVQs). Increasingly, we are also taking account of pupil performance in the end of Key Stage 3 tests, both in its own right and as an indicator of the ''value added'' by schools during Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. The 2002 performance tables will include two value added measures for secondary schools nationally, in addition to the raw examination results published normally.

The principal means of assessing achievements at the end of compulsory education is the GCSE. GCSEs are assessed through a combination of coursework and terminal examination. GCSE specifications have to meet the requirements of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's (QCA) subject criteria. A Code of Practice sets out the principles and practice for the assessment and quality assurance of the GCSE qualifications. It helps to ensure grading standards are constant in each subject across different awarding bodies and different specifications year on year.

The National Curriculum Key Stage 3 tests are developed by QCA on behalf of the Secretary of State. These tests provide a measure of pupils' progress in English mathematics and science at the end of Key Stage 3. They help teachers and parents to see what children have achieved compared with other children of the same age and with national standards, based on eight levels of attainment in the National Curriculum.

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