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31 Oct 2002 : Column 909W—continued
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
National Tests (Cheating)
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken to gather evidence about cheating in national tests for 11-year-olds; and if he will make a statement. [78376]
Mr. Miliband: The QCA reports to the Department each year on the incidence of malpractice and maladministration in national tests. Both the Department and QCA take all complaints about malpractice very seriously. QCA works closely with LEAs to investigate and monitor reported incidents. Even anonymous complaints are recorded and monitored. QCA works very closely with LEA inspectors who conduct thorough checks throughout the test process. Investigations of malpractice can involve a review of scripts from a school, interviews with teachers, talking to children and drawing on advice from experts in the field depending upon the nature of the allegations.
In 2002, 479 cases of alleged malpractice or maladministration across the three key stages were reported, leading to the annulment of the results of seven schools. Of these seven schools, four had the results in one subject annulled, two the results in two subjects and one the results in all three subjects.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent guidance his Department has given the QCA on preventing cheating in national tests for 11-year-olds. [78380]
Mr. Miliband: The Department's remit to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority includes the maintenance of a robust, reliable and credible examination and assessment system. As part of its role in overseeing the administration of statutory assessments, it is for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to approach the Department with proposals for minimising the incidence of malpractice and maladministration in the national tests.
The QCA will continue to keep its processes under review and to advise the Department accordingly.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will set up an inquiry into the levels of cheating in national tests for 11-year-olds. [78377]
Mr. Miliband: No. The QCA continues to keep its processes for detecting and investigating malpractice under review.
QCA works closely with LEAs to investigate and monitor reported incidents. Anonymous complaints are recorded and monitored. QCA works very closely with LEA inspectors who conduct thorough checks throughout the test process. Investigations of malpractice can involve a review of scripts from a school, interviews with teachers, talking to children and drawing on advice from experts in the field depending upon the nature of the allegations. There has been no evidence presented to Government of widespread malpractice in the administration of the Key Stage 2 tests this year.
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Child Care
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the role of her Department in improving access to child care for working parents. [76459]
Maria Eagle: A new unit, led by Baroness Ashton, accountable for delivery to the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions, will administer a budget of #1.5 billion a year by 2005–06. This represents a doubling of child care spending in real terms .
By March 2004, new child care places for 1.6 million children will be created. New places for a further 450,000 children will be created by 2006. There are specific initiatives—like the establishment of children's centres and neighbourhood nurseries— which will provide more good quality, safe child care in disadvantaged areas.
Substantial help with child care costs is provided to lower income families through the child care tax credit element of the working families tax credit. This assistance will continue in an improved and more flexible form as part of the working tax credit from April 2003.
GCSE Pass Marks
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what is the average mark required to pass GCSE (a) maths, (b) English and (c) history for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [75259]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 24 October 2002]: The GCSE is not a pass/fail examination. The GCSE grading system is criteria-related and grade boundary ranges for each subject are established each year by awarding bodies, making reference to candidates' work from the previous year, grade descriptions, past papers and statistical data. Each boundary is set by individual awarding bodies using both professional judgment and key statistical evidence. Information on grade boundary marks is not routinely collected.
The information on grade boundaries in maths, English and history will be lodged in the House of Commons Library in due course.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the average mark needed to attain a grade (a) A, (b) C and (c) G in GCSE mathematics was in each year from 1987 to 2002; [75263]
- (2) what the average mark needed to achieve an (a) A grade and (b) A* grade in GCSE mathematics was in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [76548]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 24 October 2002]: Information is not routinely collected on grade boundary marks in GCSE mathematics, across individual awarding body specifications. Grade boundary ranges for each subject, including mathematics, are established making reference to candidates' work from the previous year, grade descriptions, past papers and statistical data. Each
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boundary is set by individual awarding bodies using both professional judgement and key statistical evidence.
The information on grade boundaries in Maths GCSE for the period requested will be lodged in the House of Commons Library in due course.
National Grid for Learning
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much government funding is available to connect schools to the National Grid for Learning; and how much was spent on rural schools in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date. [78398]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Government are committed to investing #1.8 billion on ICT in schools in England over 1998–2004; this covers equipment, content and training as well as connecting schools to the National Grid for Learning through the internet. Allocations to schools in 2000–01 and 2001–02 were #205 million and #245 million, respectively. A further #355 million is being allocated in 2002–03. This funding is not disaggregated for connections to the internet or for the amount allocated to rural schools. However, latest survey data published on 30 October indicate that average school expenditure on ICT has risen from #18,100 in 2000–01 to #24,800 in 2001–02.
PE Teaching (Primary Schools)
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of PE teaching in primary schools. [73936]
Mr. Ivan Lewis : The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is responsible for monitoring, reporting and advising the Secretary of State on the quality of teaching and learning in schools, including Physical Education (PE).Ofsted published—in February 2002—a primary subject report on PE for the academic year 2000–01. This reported that in one in four primary schools there had been a significant improvement in the quality of PE since their previous inspections. Ofsted also reported that teaching was good or better in about half of schools; this maintains recent trends. The report has been placed in both libraries.
School Exclusions (West Kent)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have been excluded from (a) state primary and (b) state secondary schools in West Kent at each of the key stages, in each year since 1997. [77503]
Mr. Miliband: The available information is shown in the table. Information collected centrally on permanent exclusions does not record the key stage of the pupil; a breakdown of the figures by age is given as a proxy. Figures are not available centrally on fixed-term exclusions.
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| Age of pupils | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary schools(2) | 6 and under | 7 to 10 | Total |
| 1996–97 | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 18 | 61 | 79 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(3) | 22.8 | 77.2 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(4) | 0.03 | 0.08 | 0.06 |
| 1997–98(5) | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 9 | 32 | 41 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(3) | 22.0 | 78.0 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(4) | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| 1998–99 | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 7 | 26 | 33 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(3) | 21.2 | 78.8 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(4) | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| 1999–2000 | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 5 | 28 | 33 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(3) | 15.2 | 84.8 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(4) | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| 2000–01(1) | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 6 | 63 | 69 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(3) | 8.7 | 91.3 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(4) | 0.01 | 0.10 | 0.06 |
(1) Permanent exclusions data for 2000–01 have been estimated as they are known to be incomplete.
(2) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(3) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the total number.
(4) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of full and part-time pupils (excluding dually registered pupils in special schools) in January each year.
(5) After Local Government Reorganisation.
(6) Not available (data at secondary school level are incomplete for this LEA and are therefore not available).
Source:
Annual Schools Census
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