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12 Oct 2005 : Column 533W—continued
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence she has collated of whether there has been a failure of the Learning and Skills Council to pay agreed national rates under the 2004–05 apprenticeships contract; and if she will make a statement. [16523]
Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funds all learners at published national rates up to but not exceeding the maximum contract value that each learning provider negotiates for each academic year. The LSC fulfilled its obligation to fund all learners through the contracts agreed at the start of 2004/05. However, it became clear earlier this year that some providers would exceed their maximum contract value due, in the main, to larger programmes for learners, better retention and higher than planned levels of achievement. The LSC was keen to reward providers for the improvements made and a further £38 million was made available by the Department to the LSC. As a result the LSC was able to make additional payments to providers who exceeded their agreed maximum contract value calculated at 50 per cent. of the published national rate for existing learners and in addition to fund new apprentices aged 16 to 18 at the full rate. Although we are aware that some providers were not content with this, we are confident that the LSC has treated them fairly.
School Performance Measurements
Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on
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recent progress in developing and implementing a value-added methodology for measuring school and pupil performance which takes account of factors other than prior attainment. [16856]
Jacqui Smith: A Contextualised Value Added (CVA) measure is being introduced for all DfES and Ofsted school improvement and accountability purposes. In addition to prior attainment, CVA also takes account of a range of other factors that impact on performance but that are outside a school's control, such as gender, ethnicity, SEN status, and levels of pupil mobility and deprivation.
The model has been developed in consultation with schools, local authorities, Ofsted, and academics and other professionals in the field. Taking account of a much broader range of factors improves the way we measure school effectiveness by allowing us to consider the impact each school makes despite the particular circumstances of its intake.
CVA has been incorporated into the 2005 Pupil Achievement Tracker and Ofsted's PANDAs for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4. Also we are currently piloting its inclusion in the Achievement and Attainment Tables.
School Rules
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is issued by her Department to school governors on the development of (a) attendance, (b) uniform and (c) behaviour policies. [16449]
Jacqui Smith: My Department has issued several pieces of guidance aimed at governors, headteachers and local authorities on pupil behaviour and attendance. The Secretary of State's "Guide to the Law for School Governors' includes information on the governing body's responsibilities together with guidance on attendance, school uniform and behaviour policies. It is published, along with a comprehensive range of information on other areas which is aimed at school governors, on the Department's website at www.governornet.co.uk/
Governors also have access to the information and advice that we give to schools through the Behaviour and Attendance (www.dfes.gov.uk/behaviourandattendance), Standards websites (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk) and Teacher Net (www.teachernet.go.uk). The Standards site gives access to comprehensive guidance and training materials on the effective management of behaviour and attendance from our Primary and Secondary National Strategies. These include practical advice on how to develop, implement and review whole school policies in these and other areas.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is issued by her Department to schools on the imposition of detentions. [16450]
Jacqui Smith: DFES Circular 10/99, "Social Inclusion: Pupil Support", provides guidance on the use of detentions.
Full details of its contents are available at:
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the number of detentions imposed in schools in 2003–04. [16451]
Jacqui Smith: Data on pupil detentions is not collected centrally and there is no reliable basis for an estimate.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will review the statutory requirement under section 5 of the Education Act 1997 that parents be given 24 hours' notice of a detention. [16452]
Jacqui Smith: There are currently no plans to review the statutory requirement for the period of notice given to parents about school detentions.
School Sports
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of pupils in schools outside school sport partnerships who participate in at least two hours of PE and sport per week. [16420]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested on schools outside of school sport partnerships is not held centrally. The annual PE, school sport and club links survey collects data from schools within school sport partnerships. By September 2006, all maintained schools will be within a partnership.
The 2004–05 survey found that overall, 69 percent. of 5–16 year-olds in partnership schools were spending at least two hours in a typical week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum. This is up 7 percentage points from the 2003–04 survey.
Science Education
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) GCSE and (b) A-level students took (i) chemistry, (ii) physics and (iii) biology in the last year for which figures are available; and what the figures were (A) five, (B) 10, (C) 15 and (D) 20 years ago. [16664]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested on GCSE and A-level entries can be found in the following table.
(25) 1984 figures are for GCE O-levels, figures from 1994 onwards are for GCSEs.
Note:
1. Figures for 1989 are unavailable as these were not supplied by the Awarding Bodies.
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Teachers
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of current teachers were born on or after 1 September 1979. [16422]
Jacqui Smith: Provisional estimates indicate that in March 2004, 3.5 per cent. of full-time regular teachers in service were born on or after 1 September 1979. This is the latest information available.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many newly qualified teachers failed their assessment at the end of their induction year in 2003–04. [16426]
Jacqui Smith: The General Teaching Council for England received notification of 32 newly qualified teachers that failed their induction assessments between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school centred initial teacher training programmes lead to a PGCE qualification; and if she will make a statement. [16427]
Jacqui Smith: 1,360 trainees successfully completed postgraduate school-centred initial teacher training courses during 2003–04, the most recent year for which data are available. No data are collected or held centrally on the number of these trainees that received a postgraduate certificate in education.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many consortia of schools offered school centred initial teacher training in the last year for which figures are available. [16428]
Jacqui Smith: There are 56 providers of school-centred style initial teacher training for 2005–06.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers qualified under the overseas trained teacher programme in the last year for which figures are available. [16429]
Jacqui Smith: 1,028 trainees successfully completed overseas trained teacher training courses during 2003–04, the most recent year for which data are available.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what costs were incurred in transforming the Teacher Training Agency into the Training and Development Agency for Schools. [16430]
Jacqui Smith:
The cost of transforming the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) to the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), with an expanded remit, was £85,222. This includes research, re-branding and new office signage. Some additional cost was incurred in taking legal advice. The benefits deriving from the TDA's new remit, which now includes responsibilities for training and development of the whole school work force, are considerable.
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The TDA has also taken on the functions of a Sector Skills Council. The cost of setting up a distinct Sector Skills Council would have been significant. The re-branding of the TTA has therefore saved a considerable sum of public funds.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers qualified under (a) graduate teacher programme and (b) registered teacher programme in the last year for which figures are available. [16431]
Jacqui Smith: 4,295 trainees successfully completed graduate teacher training programmes and 177 trainees successfully completed registered teacher training programmes during 2003–04, the most recent year for which data are available.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many candidates completed a post-graduate certificate of education in the last year for which figures are available. [16433]
Jacqui Smith: 21,460 trainees successfully completed postgraduate initial teacher training courses during 2003–04, the most recent year for which data are available. This does not include employment based routes into initial teacher training. No data are collected or held centrally on the number of postgraduate trainees who, as well as being awarded qualified teacher status, received a postgraduate certificate in education.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of teachers suffering from (a) stress and (b) other mental health problems in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) age and (ii) local authority area. [16688]
Jacqui Smith: The requested information is not held centrally.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support is available for teachers suffering from (a) stress and (b) other mental health problems. [16689]
Jacqui Smith: The Department has supported a range of measures to ensure that teacher health and well-being are taken seriously, which include tackling sources of stress and excessive work load. We have also encouraged better management of teacher health matters through improved occupational health guidance for schools and LEAs.
Schools are able to access local authority occupational health services or bring in their own professional support on these matters. The Department has also supported the Teacher Support Network telephone helpline service since its launch in 1999. They offer a 24 hour confidential advice and counselling service for teachers.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers there are in each London borough. [16329]
Jacqui Smith:
The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of regular teachers in service in the maintained sector in January 2005, the latest information available.
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Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers at schools in England have Qualified Teacher Status gained in Wales. [16421]
Jacqui Smith: The information is requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many candidates were awarded degrees of bachelor of arts or bachelor of science with qualified teacher status in the last year for which figures are available; [16424]
(2) how many candidates were awarded a degree of bachelor of education in the last year for which figures are available. [16425]
Jacqui Smith:
In 2003/04, there were 6,070 first degree Initial teacher training (ITT) qualifiers at English HE institutions. Information on the type of first degree qualification obtained is not held centrally. However, the available information covering ITT qualifiers by subject of study is given in the table. Please note that this data includes 177 trainees on the registered teacher programme.
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(26) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
(27) Figures include UK and overseas domiciled qualifiers.
(28) Where students are on a primary programme and have chose not to study a specialism, then students are coded within the education subject group, otherwise, the appropriate JACS code is used to indicate any specialisms.
Source:
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many previously unqualified teachers qualified under the Qualified Teacher Status-only option administered by the Universities of Gloucestershire and Wolverhampton in the last year for which figures are available. [16432]
Jacqui Smith: 70 trainees successfully completed assessment-only training programmes provided by the University of Gloucestershire during 2003/04, the most recent year for which data are available. During the same period, the University of Wolverhampton did not provide any assessment-only training programmes.
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