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6 May 2004 : Column 1753W—continued
Education (Huntingdon)
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in the Huntingdon constituency in (a) each of the last seven years and (b) on the latest date for which figures were available. [170840]
Mr. Miliband: The following table gives the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in maintained schools in Huntingdon constituency in each January between 1997 and 2003, the latest year for which data are available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 210 |
| 1998 | 240 |
| 1999 | 260 |
| 2000 | 260 |
| 2001 | 320 |
| 2002 | 340 |
| 2003 | 370 |
Source:
Annual School Census.
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Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in schools in the Huntingdon constituency on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he has taken to reduce them. [170841]
Mr. Miliband: Information on teacher vacancies is not available by constituency as it is collected at local education authority level. In January 2003, the latest information available, there were 32 full-time teacher vacancies in Cambridgeshire local education authority.
Like other areas, since 1997 Cambridgeshire has benefited from the initiatives that the Government has put in place to recruit and retain teachers and to increase the number of staff supporting them in schools. Since 1997, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained schools in the former Cambridgeshire LEA area has risen by 450 from 5,400 to 5,850 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the area has grown by 1,080 from 2,470 to 3,550 in 2003.
6 May 2004 : Column 1755W
Education Maintenance Allowance
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number of young people who will continue in education as a result of the education maintenance allowance. [167988]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The estimated number of young people of compulsory school leaving age expected to continue in full time education in 2004–05 is 505,000. This is out of a population of 666,000. Based on evidence from the pilot evaluation the Centre for Research in Social Policy and the Institute of Fiscal Studies an additional 72,000 young people will be participating in further education by 2006–07 as a result of the EMA.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) in which education authority areas pupils are able to benefit from the education maintenance allowance; and how many qualify in each; [169119]
(2) in which education authority areas pupils are not able to benefit from the education maintenance allowance; and how many would have qualified for the allowance in each; [169120]
(3) what estimate he has made of the likely take-up of education maintenance allowance and the costs. [169121]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: At present, young people are able to receive an education maintenance allowance (EMA) if they live in one of the 56 LEA pilot areas listed in table one. This table also shows for each LEA area the numbers of young people who have benefited from EMA in each area. It should be noted that different LEAs have been testing different versions of the scheme, in order to inform our decisions about the best national model.
6 May 2004 : Column 1756W
From September 2004, the national EMA scheme will be available throughout England to all young people aged 16 at the start of the 2004/05 academic year who meet the eligibility criteria. It will also to be available to 17 and 18-year-olds in the pilot areas. Our forecast is that around 270,000 young people will take up EMA in 2004/05. By 2006 EMA will provide support to over 400,000 young people.
The Department estimates the cost of the education maintenance allowance Scheme over the next three financial years to be:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 275 |
| 2005–06 | 403 |
| 2006–07 | 476 |
These estimates take account of the phased roll-out to one cohort at a time and the cost of administering, promoting and evaluating the scheme.
English/Mathematics
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of 11-year-old pupils in Burnley reached level four in (a) mathematics and (b) English in each of the last seven years. [167928]
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Mr. Miliband:
The information requested is as follows:
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| Pupils achieving Level 4+: Mathematics | Pupils achieving Level 4+: English | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | England | Burnley | England | |||
| Number | Percentage | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Percentage | |
| 2003 | 876 | 67 | 73 | 918 | 70 | 75 |
| 2002 | 939 | 69 | 73 | 931 | 68 | 75 |
| 2001 | 879 | 68 | 71 | 905 | 70 | 75 |
| 2000 | 896 | 70 | 72 | 935 | 73 | 75 |
| 1999 | 913 | 66 | 69 | 909 | 66 | 71 |
| 1998 | 775 | 58 | 59 | 830 | 62 | 65 |
| 1997 | 784 | 59 | 62 | 785 | 59 | 63 |
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of 11-year-old pupils in Preston reached level four in (a) mathematics and (b) English in each of the last seven years. [168125]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is as follows:
| Pupils achieving Level 4+: Mathematics | Pupils achieving Level 4+: English | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston | England | Preston | England | |||
| Number | Percentage | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Percentage | |
| 2003 | 851 | 68 | 73 | 850 | 68 | 75 |
| 2002 | 864 | 68 | 73 | 843 | 66 | 75 |
| 2001 | 827 | 62 | 71 | 894 | 67 | 75 |
| 2000 | 819 | 65 | 72 | 844 | 67 | 75 |
| 1999 | 794 | 61 | 69 | 798 | 62 | 71 |
| 1998 | 655 | 51 | 59 | 762 | 60 | 65 |
| 1997 | 664 | 52 | 62 | 666 | 53 | 63 |
Field Trips
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of field trips available to (a) GCSE science and (b) A-level biology students; [171054]
(2) if his Department will commission research to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the state of fieldwork in secondary science education for 14 to 19 year olds; [171055]
(3) what assessment he has made of the report by the National Foundation for Educational Research on Outdoor Learning; and if he will make a statement. [171056]
Mr. Miliband: We have no plans to commission further research to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of fieldwork in secondary science education for 14 to 19 year olds, having only just received the findings of NfER's "Outdoor Learning Review", which we partly funded. My officials will meet the English Outdoor Council, who also partly funded the review, in the near future to discuss ways forward.
We are already working with the Field Studies Council, subject associations and others, together with our new national network of Science Learning Centres, to develop continuing professional development to improve teachers' confidence and skills in the planning, risk assessment and management of fieldwork. We see these as the key to developing both the quantity and quality of fieldwork in 14–19 science. This is in addition to the Science and Geography teaching resources provided by our Growing Schools programme.
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