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19 Apr 2004 : Column 38W—continued
Educational Standards
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the extent to which educational standards in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland have changed since 1997; how he reached his conclusion; and if he will make a statement. [164967]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: On the basis of measuring standards in schools in England against our PSA targets for the years 1997 and 2003 we can draw the following comparison:
| Issue | 1997 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | ||
| Percentage of 11-year-olds achieving level 4 or above in English | 63 | 75 |
| Percentage of 11-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in English | 16 | 27 |
| Percentage of 11-year-olds achieving level 4 or above in maths | 62 | 73 |
| Percentage of 11-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in maths | 18 | 29 |
| KS3 | ||
| Percentage of 14-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in English | 57 | 69 |
| Percentage of 14-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in maths | 60 | 71 |
| Percentage of 14-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in ICT | 50 | 67 |
| Percentage of 14-year-olds achieving level 5 or above in science | 60 | 68 |
| GCSE | ||
| Percentage of 16-year-olds who get qualifications equivalent to five GCSEs at grade A* to C | 45.1 | 52.9 |
| Number of schools not achieving at least 20 per cent. of pupils who get qualifications equivalent to five GCSEs at grade A* to C | 361 | 114 |
This overview of improving standards across the board is confirmed by the recently published Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools which commented that
"over the past ten years, standards have undoubtedly risen in primary and secondary schools, as has the quality of teaching and leadership and management."
Furthermore my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Budget statement on 17 March 2004 that
"UK education spending which was just 4.7 per cent. of GDP in 1997 will rise to 5.6 per cent. in 2007–8—from one of the lowest in the industrialised world to amongst the best."
As a result of the strategies we have introduced, the success rate for further education colleges has improved from 53 per cent. in 1997/98 to 65 per cent. in 2001/02.
Standards in education in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not the responsibility of the Department of Education and Skills. I therefore refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for responses to parts (b), (c) and (d) of his question.
Essay/Coursework Sales
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will conduct an urgent inquiry into the activities of companies who provide A level essays and coursework for UK students; [165313]
(2) what plans he has to make sure that A level students who use material supplied by commercial companies are penalised through the loss of any grade achieved in the subject for which coursework has been supplied and submitted as their own work; [165314]
(3) what plans he has to regulate companies who supply A level coursework to UK students. [165315]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 1 April 2004]: The marking and grading of examination scripts is the responsibility of the examination awarding bodies. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as Regulator, is responsible for ensuring that the awarding bodies fulfil their obligations under the examinations Code of Practice. There are well-established procedures for dealing with instances of suspected malpractice in examinations, which are published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and agreed by the awarding bodies.
The Guidance includes procedures for investigating alleged malpractice, including the misuse of ICT, and the sanctions and penalties to be applied to those candidates who are caught cheating. Sanctions can include the issue of a warning; the loss of all marks gained in all components in a qualification or ultimately barring the candidate from entering one or more examinations for a set period of time.
Foster Care
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has (a) to promote foster care, with particular reference to advertising campaigns, and (b) to encourage people to become foster carers. [164193]
Margaret Hodge
[holding answer 1 April 2004]: We will be spending £1.5m of the Choice Protects Grant in 2004–05 to develop a number of suggestions from the Green Paper to improve the status, support and training for foster carers. These include the development of a national award and a national helpline.
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We have recently produced a Fostering Publicity Pack designed to help local authority fostering teams to run targeted local campaigns to recruit new foster carers for looked after children. We have also announced a three-year grant to support Foster Care Fortnight.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will increase payments to foster carers. [164195]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 1 April 2004]: The National Minimum Standards for fostering services clearly require that: 'Each foster carer receives an allowance and agreed expenses, which cover the full cost of caring for each child or young person placed with him or her.' Additionally some foster carers may receive a fee payment.
The Choice Protects Programme is supported by a £113 million grant over three years. In 2004–05 this amounts to £30 million for local authorities. This money can be used to improve payments for foster carers.
Free School Meals
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what studies his Department has undertaken to examine the effects of providing (a) free school lunches and (b) free school breakfasts. [165030]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills has not undertaken studies to examine the effects of providing free school lunches and free school breakfasts.
This Department, together with the Department of Health (DoH), is jointly funding a Food in Schools (FiS) programme. The DoH strand comprises eight projects which include breakfast clubs. Good practice identified through FiS will help schools promote a clear and consistent message about diet and nutrition.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children receive (a) free school lunches and (b) free school breakfasts, broken down by local education authority. [165071]
Alan Johnson: The available data on free school lunches have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Information relating to free school breakfasts is not collected by the Department.
Graduate Employment
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department takes to monitor the type of employment opportunities offered to graduates. [164468]
Alan Johnson:
The Department commissions, collates and monitors a wide range of data on graduate employment and employability in general, including: monitoring surveys, research and analyses produced by a variety of organisations, including employer and graduate careers services groups and academic research, on graduate vacancies, employment and starting salaries; monitoring and analysing data on the graduate labour market from the annual First Destinations Survey of Higher Education leavers, which are collected
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and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and the quarterly Labour Force Survey, collected and published by the Office for National Statistics; commissioning a survey of 1999 graduates to track earnings and employment outcomes and investigate their careers three and a half years following graduation, the results of which are expected to be published later this year; and maintaining a broad intelligence base on the graduate labour market, which is updated as new research and findings emerge.
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