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15 Sept 2004 : Column 1603W—continued

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Academic Performance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether there is evidence from trends in academic performance that (a) pupils and (b) students
 
15 Sept 2004 : Column 1604W
 
from (i) white and (ii) other ethnic communities are increasing their level of performance. [188291]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Youth Cohort Study has been run by the Department for a number of years and collects information from young people after they have finished compulsory education. The following table shows the percentage of pupils that achieve five or more GCSEs at grade A* to C:
Attainment of five or more GCSE grades A*-C in year 11 by ethnic group: 1991–2001

	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997(9)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Weighted sample	24,922	—	18,020	—	15,899	—	14,662	—	13,698	—	16,707
Percentage
All	37	—	42	—	44	—	46	—	49	—	51
White	37	—	43	—	45	—	47	—	50	—	52
Black	23	—	21	—	23	—	29	—	39	—	36
Asian	33	—	36	—	38	—	45	—	48	—	52
Indian	38	—	45	—	48	—	54	—	60	—	60
Pakistani	26	—	24	—	23	—	29	—	29	—	40
Bangladeshi	14	—	20	—	25	—	33	—	29	—	41
Other Asian	46	—	50	—	61	—	61	—	72	—	64
Other ethnic group	(10)—	—	37	—	46	—	47	—	43	—	53
Not stated	18	—	16	—	29	—	27	—	26	—	30

⁽⁹⁾ From 1997, includes equivalent GNVQ qualifications achieved in year 11.
⁽¹⁰⁾ Not available.
Source:
Youth Cohort Study (England and Wales) cohorts 6–11, sweep 1.

Information on achievement of students is not available from the same source, but the following table, from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows the numbers in higher education from different ethnic groups and the proportion of these groups who obtained first or upper second class degrees:
Proportion of first degree graduates in each ethnic group achieving a first or upper second class degree

	1997/98		2002/03
Ethnic group(11)	Graduates	First or 2:1 (percentage)	Graduates	First or 2:1 (percentage)
White	180,130	53	201,355	58
Black	5,630	29	7,085	34
Indian	6,695	39	10,085	44
Pakistani	2,935	35	4,695	36
Bangladeshi	765	34	1,400	38
Chinese	1,835	44	2,525	45
Asian Other	2,095	40	2,735	46
Mixed	n/a	n/a	825	53
Other	2,820	47	3,505	52
Unknown ethnicity	27,720	48	16,125	45
Total	230,625	51	250,335	55

n/a = not available.
⁽¹¹⁾ Covers UK domiciled students only. From the academic year 2001/02 onwards, HESA has coded ethnicity using a more detailed ethnic breakdown that allows identification of those of mixed ethnicity. In years prior to this, those of mixed ethnicity will have been recorded in one of the other ethnic groups.
Source:
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Archaeology

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to retain archaeology as a GCSE examination subject. [188549]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is regulator of the public examinations system. It oversees the work of the examinations awarding bodies, to ensure that their administration, marking and awarding procedures run smoothly. Awarding bodies are independent organisations and, as such, Ministers have no powers to intervene in their actions.

The QCA does expect awarding bodies to offer a broad portfolio of qualifications, but cannot insist on them offering specific subjects. QCA can, however, insist that the awarding bodies give sufficient notice to centres and give support to centres in finding suitable alternative qualifications. In this instance the QCA felt that appropriate notice had been given by AQA to drop its GCSE Archaeology specification and, considering the fact that most candidates were post-16 (there were only 92 pre-16 candidates for GCSE archaeology in 2003), the AS qualification seemed a suitable alternative.

When Ministers consider the final report of the Working Group on 14–19 Reform we will ensure that any proposals for reform will allow a wide range of qualification areas and subjects to be available to ensure choice and breadth of knowledge for learners.

Departmental Press Officers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his projection is of the number of press officers employed in his Department for 2004–05. [187554]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: It is anticipated that 20 press officers will be employed in this Department in 2004–05.
 
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European Languages Day

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to mark European Languages Day. [188037]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department, in conjunction with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and CILT, the National Centre for Languages, will be marking the day with a public event, to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The programme for the day of celebrations will include the European Awards for Languages ceremony, which will recognise the innovation and achievement of 17 different language learning projects across the education spectrum, and the launch of the Languages Work project.

Medical Training

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students (a) were admitted to and (b) graduated from medical training in the UK in each of the past 10 years. [189003]

Dr. Howells: The available information covering medical school intake and graduate output at institutions in England is given in the table. Information for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish medical schools is the responsibility of the devolved Administrations.
Actual Medical School intake and output in England1993/94 to 2003/04

Academic year	Intake	Graduate Output
1994/95	3,514	2,911
1995/96	3,486	2,983
1996/97	3,594	3,025
1997/98	3,749	3,261
1998/99	3,735	3,097
1999/2000	3,972	3,373
2000/01	4,300	3,286
2001/02	4,713	3,280
2002/03	5,277	3,522
2003/04	(12)6,030	n/a

⁽¹²⁾ This figure is provisional until December 2004 when a finalised figure will be cleared.
Source:
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Public Services Funding

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will identify, for (a) his Department and (b) the agencies and task forces for which his Department is responsible, each funding stream for public services in (i) the Isle of Thanet and (ii) the Canterbury City local authority area. [181730]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 1 July 2004]: The Department provides funding for schools and their pupils aged 3–15, other education services, Children, Young People and Family Services, and the Youth Service, in the Isle of Thanet and Canterbury City, through Kent county council and local partnerships. In 2004–05, Kent county council and local partnerships in the county receive funding from the Department through the funding streams set out as follows. Schools can already spend most of these funds in any way they choose and we will be working with schools and local authorities to take further steps to rationalise funding streams, including a Single Improvement Grant.
 
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Recurrent funding for education in Kent

School standards grant

Standards fund:

Advanced Skills Teachers

Aim Higher

Beacon Schools

Behaviour Improvement Programme

Building schools' capacity for continuing professional development

Early Excellence Centres

Education Health Partnerships

Enterprise Learning Pathfinders

Ethnic minority achievement grant

Excellence in Cities and Excellence Clusters

Extended schools

Federations

Key Stage 3 National Strategy: central coordination

LEA support for workforce remodelling

Leadership incentive grant

Leading Edge schools

Music services

Primary expansion

Primary Strategy Central Coordination

School development grant

School travel advisers

Specialist schools grant

Study support quality development programme

Summer schools for gifted and talented children

Targeted improvement grant

Targeted support for Key Stage 3

Targeted support for primary strategy

Training schools

Vulnerable children

Targeted transitional grant

Teachers' performance pay funding

Teachers' threshold pay grant

Capital funding for education in Kent

Academies capital1

Capital support for the expansion of successful and popular secondary schools ¹

Devolved formula capital

Excellence in Cities (City Learning Centres)

Failing Schools and Fresh Start ¹

ICT in schools (including ICT infrastructure, hands-on support, Broadband Interconnectivity and eLearning Credits

Interactive whiteboards

Modernisation funding

New pupil places (basic need)

Non-maintained special schools ¹

Private Finance Initiative

School travel plans

Schools Access Initiative

Seed Challenge

Specialist schools capital

Targeted capital funding

Voluntary aided schools capital

¹ Capital funding stream available to Kent, though the county does not currently have an allocation in 2004–05.

Recurrent and capital funding for children, young people and family services in Kent

Adoption and special guardianship grant

 
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Child and adolescent mental health services

Children's fund partnerships

Children's social services supported capital expenditure (revenue)

Choice protects grant

Connexions partnerships

Integrated children's services grant

Safeguarding children's grant

SENDA funding for the youth service (to help the youth service become compliant with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act)

Sure Start general grant:

Non-ring-fenced funding:

Delivery support fund

Children's information service

Workforce development (recruitment and training)

Nursery schools development

Extended schools

New child care places in disadvantaged areas (revenue)

New child care places in other areas (revenue)

New child care places (capital for out of school child care)

New child care places in disadvantaged areas (capital for playgroup conversion)

New child care places in other areas (capital for playgroup conversion)

Ring-fenced funding lines:

SEN and inclusion (children with special needs and disabled children)

Children's centres (revenue)

Children's centres (capital)

Support childminder scheme

Neighbourhood nurseries (revenue)

Neighbourhood nurseries (capital)

Sustainability of child care places

Sure Start local programme funding

Teenage pregnancy

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children leaving care

 
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Transforming youth work development fund.

Recurrent and capital funding for post-16 learning and skills provision (outside higher education) in Kent

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for the funding of post-16 learning and skills provision (outside higher education) in the Isle of Thanet and City of Canterbury local authority areas. The Department provides funding to the LSC through the following funding lines:

Learning Participation

School Sixth Forms

Capital

Local Intervention and Development

Administration.

Recurrent and capital funding for higher education in Kent

There are five institutions in Kent LEA: three higher education institutions (HEIs) and two further education colleges who run higher education courses. All of these receive funding from Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). As there are no HEIs on the Isle of Thanet there is no funding by HEFCE. HEFCE provided funding for the following funding lines:

Teaching (core funding, additional places, widening access and improving retention)

Research (quality related research, capability fund)

Moderation of Teaching and Research

Rewarding and Developing Staff.

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