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7 Jul 2003 : Column 619W—continued
Earned Autonomy (Schools)
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) when he expects to publish the guidance on earned autonomy for primary and secondary schools under the Education Act 2002; [122721]
- (2) whether the forthcoming guidance on earned autonomy will include freedom for schools to set pay rates for (a) teaching staff, (b) teaching support staff and (c) other staff; and if he will make a statement. [122722]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 30 June 2003]: The Government is considering how most appropriately to extend freedoms for schools beyond a limited focus on the two areas specified in the 2002 Act. In the meantime, all schools are free under the Power to Innovate to make proposals to set pay rates for their teaching staff. Pay rates for school support staff are already set at local level.
Euro Roadshow
Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the events he plans to attend as part of the Government's euro roadshow. [121389]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Government Ministers will be holding a series of meetings around the country setting out the benefits of our membership of the European Union.
Excluded Pupils
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 25 November 2002, Official Report, column 93W, on school standards, what progress has been made on the survey of the extent to which targets for educating excluded pupils are met; and when the results will be published. [123281]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 3 July 2003]: In October 2002, we wrote to local education authorities (LEAs) asking them to confirm that they had made arrangements to provide full-time education for all permanently excluded pupils. All local education authorities confirmed that they were able to achieve the target of providing full-time education for all permanently excluded pupils by September 2002 and all but two currently report that they are sustaining such provision.
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Fast Track Scheme
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many recruits there have been to the Fast Track scheme over the last year, broken down by (a) subject, (b) phase of training and (c) previous occupation. [122983]
Mr. Miliband: Over 2,000 applications to join the Fast Track teaching programme were received this year, and final selection is still in progress. To date, 298 people have been offered places on Fast Track this year, almost double the number of places taken up last year (161).
| Subject | (16)Number of places offered |
|---|---|
| Art | 4 |
| Business and Economics | 13 |
| Design and Technology | 4 |
| English | 55 |
| Geography | 13 |
| History | 29 |
| Information Technology | 3 |
| Maths | 17 |
| Modern Foreign Languages | 24 |
| Music | 2 |
| Physical Education | 1 |
| Religious Education | 2 |
| Science | 53 |
| Subtotal—Secondary | 220 |
| Subtotal—Primary | 78 |
| Total | 298 |
(16) As of 30 June 2003.
It is estimated that the final number of places offered this year will be between 320 and 350.
Over half of all new entrants joining Fast Track this year have three or more years' work experience, with around 20 per cent. having had successful careers of 10 or more years in a different field. A wide variety of previous career experience is represented amongst Fast Track teachers, including law, NHS management, the City, academia, the civil service, the armed services and police, and a wide variety of industrial and commercial backgrounds, including electronics, pharmaceuticals and ICT.
I will write to the hon. Member with detailed information on previous occupations and academic qualifications of new entrants in September, once recruitment for 2003 is complete.
First Aid
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of teachers are trained in first aid. [122404]
Mr. Miliband: The Department does not collect this information. The number of first aiders in a school will depend on an assessment made at the school concerned. The Department produced "Guidance on First Aid for Schools" that can be accessed via the website at www.teachernet.gov.uk/firstaid
7 Jul 2003 : Column 621W
Freedom of Information Act
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the electronic document and electronic record management systems which have been procured by the public authorities listed in Parts I to V of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for which he is responsible. [116392]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To date, two public authorities have purchased electronic systems for managing records and documents. These are the Higher Education Funding Council for England which has bought Tower Software's Trim system, and the Construction Industry Training Board which has purchased Opentext Livelink. My Department and its other Non-Departmental Public Bodies listed in the Act are in varying stages of procurement.
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Information about systems purchased by educational establishments listed in the Act is not held centrally.
GCSE/GNVQ
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students took (a) GCSEs and (b) GNVQs in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region. [122848]
Mr. Miliband: The numbers of students attempting GCSEs and GNVQs in each region since 1997 are as follows. The figures have not been provided for the year period, as there are no GNVQ data available prior to 1997.
| Region | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North east | 31,424 | 91,808 | 30,158 | 30,084 | 29,685 | 30,017 |
| North west | 85,821 | 74,433 | 81,789 | 81,730 | 79,867 | 63,568 |
| Merseyside | — | — | — | — | — | 16,407 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 60,458 | 62,859 | 57,581 | 56,982 | 55,898 | 56,803 |
| East Midlands | 50,099 | 56,450 | 47,353 | 47,448 | 46,641 | 47,744 |
| West Midlands | 64,860 | 64,770 | 62,067 | 62,665 | 61,146 | 61,301 |
| East | 63,664 | 49,296 | 60,785 | 59,822 | 60,266 | 61,545 |
| London | 74,967 | 59,907 | 71,503 | 70,670 | 70,018 | 70,160 |
| South east | 92,002 | 85,578 | 87,849 | 87,935 | 86,895 | 89,730 |
| South west | 57,281 | 31,598 | 54,430 | 53,944 | 53,848 | 54,259 |
| England | 580,576 | 576,699 | 553,515 | 551,280 | 544,264 | 551,534 |
| Region | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North east | 4,804 | 2,271 | 1,162 | 803 | 660 | 396 |
| North west | 9,085 | 2,645 | 1,658 | 1,287 | 745 | 176 |
| Merseyside | — | — | — | — | — | 129 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 6,764 | 2,029 | 1,785 | 1,541 | 821 | 553 |
| East Midlands | 6,538 | 2,167 | 1,587 | 1,137 | 615 | 292 |
| West Midlands | 10,442 | 3,733 | 2,668 | 2,023 | 1,433 | 757 |
| East | 5,933 | 2,468 | 1,140 | 1,003 | 682 | 269 |
| London | 8,019 | 2,237 | 1,495 | 818 | 520 | 264 |
| South east | 6,926 | 3,076 | 1,428 | 1,478 | 775 | 469 |
| South west | 5,992 | 1,824 | 1,078 | 1,225 | 715 | 429 |
| England | 64,503 | 22,450 | 14,001 | 11,315 | 6,966 | 3,734 |
Higher Education
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the annual change has been for each of the last 10 years in the proportions of students from different socio-economic backgrounds (a) entering higher education, (b) completing each year of study and (c) successfully completing a course of study. [121754]
Alan Johnson: The available information showing the proportion of young (under 21) people from each social class who enter higher education is shown in the following table.
(17) The API is defined as the number of UK domiciled under 21 initial entrants to full-time and sandwich courses expressed as a proportion of the averaged 18–19 year old GB population.
Notes:
where I Professional, II Intermediate, IIIn Skilled (non-manual), IIIm Skilled (manual), IV Partially skilled and V Unskilled.
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Information on completion and non-completion rates of HE students is published annually by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education (HE)", but these figures do not separately identify students by social class. The latest available data for students from all social classes are shown in the following table.
| Projected Outcomes(18) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studentsstarting in: | Obtained degree | Obtained no qualification | Other(19) |
| 1996/97 | 80 | 18 | 2 |
| 1997/98 | 81 | 17 | 2 |
| 1998/99 | 81 | 17 | 2 |
| 1999/2000 | 81 | 17 | 2 |
(18) The projected outcomes are calculated on the assumption that the progression paths of new entrants will be the same as those for students currently in the system.
(19) Includes students who obtain undergraduate qualifications other than a degree (e.g. an HMD).
Figures published in 2002 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the UK as a whole has one of the lowest non-completion rates among OECD countries.
The Government are committed to raising the participation rates for people from less affluent backgrounds, and has introduced the AimHigher campaign, which is targeted at raising attainment and aspirations among young people who traditionally would not consider going to university.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportional change the Government expects in (a) the number of (i) foundation degrees and (ii) part-time study and work-based degrees and (b) the proportion of students choosing to live at home while studying on the basis of the proposals in the White Paper The Future of Higher Education. [121756]
Alan Johnson: In the academic year 2002/2003 around 12,000 students studied Foundation Degrees. There are plans to grow that number to 20,000 places by 2005/2006. Discussions are taking place with HEFCE about providing further student places for Foundation Degrees in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006, HEFCE will publish details about this in the autumn.
Figures published in the DfES 2003 Departmental Report predict that the proportion of part-time students (undergraduate and postgraduate) will be 42.4 per cent.
7 Jul 2003 : Column 624W
in 2004/05. Work based degrees and not clearly defined and we do not have separate statistics for work based degrees.
In academic year 2001/02 (latest provisional data), the proportion of higher education students in England and Wales who are eligible for the home rate of loan under the student supportscheme funding arrangements is 21 per cent. This information is not available for future years.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what fee charging arrangements will be in place for higher education fees levied from Turkish Cypriots visiting the UK for higher education courses, after Cyprus joins the EU; and if he will make a statement.[R] [123189]
Alan Johnson: When Cyprus becomes a member of the EU, Turkish Cypriots who are nationals of the Republic of Cyprus and studying on full time first degree courses in Higher Education Institutions in England and Wales, will become eligible for support for their tuition fees.
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