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7 Nov 2005 : Column 115W—continued

Failing Schools

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are taken to deal with failing schools. [24562]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 3 November 2005]: When a school is judged, by Ofsted, to be failing the local authority is under a duty to prepare, within 10 working days, an action plan to improve the school. There are then termly visits from Ofsted to monitor the implementation of the action plan and the school's progress. Since 1998 the number of failing schools has more than halved and the average time to turn round such a school has reduced from 24 to 21 months. The Schools White Paper published last month includes proposals to ensure that school failure is remedied even more quickly. In particular, we propose to extend the range of intervention powers available to authorities and to require them to consider the full range of their powers immediately on receipt of an adverse Ofsted inspection report on a school.

Faith Schools (Admissions)

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her oral answer of 27 October 2005 to the hon. Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough (Jeff Ennis), Official Report, column 442, on the Education White Paper, whether her policy that looked-after children will have top priority in admissions applies equally to faith schools. [25294]

Jacqui Smith: We are committed to laying regulations before Parliament to require admission authorities to give top priority to looked-after children in their published admission arrangements. We intend that schools designated as having a religious character will, as a minimum requirement, give first priority to looked-after children of their faith, but we expect many of these schools to provide in their admission arrangements for all looked-after children to have priority unless their trust deeds prevent them from doing so.

Further Education

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will initiate a publicity campaign to persuade adults and employers that there is a need to pay higher fees for courses provided by further education colleges; and if she will make a statement. [24409]

Bill Rammell: The recent Learning and Skills Council publication Priorities for Success: Funding for Learning and Skills" made the commitment that

(paragraph 70, page 20).

Government, Learning and Skills Council and other partners' publicity campaigns over the coming months will meet this commitment by demonstrating the many
 
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different rewards to individual learners, employers and the community that can be achieved through investment of time, effort and money in learning.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage secondary school leavers to go into further education. [25183]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Gas and Electricity Supply Contracts

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have interruptible contracts for gas and electricity supply; and if she will make a statement. [25544]

Jacqui Smith: We have contacted some local authority energy managers and doubt if there are any schools on an interruptible gas tariff due to the relatively low level of consumption in schools. This tariff is usually associated with the business or commercial sectors where there are dual fuels in place.

You cannot interrupt electricity supplies to properties therefore there are no such tariffs for electricity.

GCSE Results

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her oral answer of 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 440, to the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Hugh Robertson), on GCSE results, what the evidential basis is for her statement that improvements in reading, writing and arithmetic followed after 50 years of no progress at all in raising primary school standards. [25295]

Jacqui Smith: The statement made in the answer to the oral question referred to is based on the conclusions from the research Standards in Literacy and Numeracy" conducted by Greg Brooks, Derek Foxman and Tom Gorman, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), published by the National Commission on Education in December 1992. Updates to this research, Standards in Literacy and Numeracy 1948–1994" and Trends in the Standards of Literacy in the United Kingdom: 1948—1996" were published in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

One of the main findings of this research was that in the period between 1948 and 1996 average levels of performance of primary school children had remained much the same.

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what average number of A and A* grades at GCSE was achieved in all schools in each year from 1997. [23397]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is given in the following table.
 
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Average number of A* and A grades at GCSE achieved by15-year-old pupils(43)

A* gradesA gradesNumber of 15-year-old pupils(43)Average number of
A*/A grades per pupil
1997168,334484,323586,7661.1
1998187,473487,413575,2101.2
1999188,597476,736580,9721.1
2000216,808528,390580,3931.3
2001239,058551,729603,3181.3
2002249,963584,255606,5541.4
2003251,486586,097622,1221.3
2004282,226608,509643,5601.4
2005(44)292,910625,165637,1941.4


(43) Pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 August).
(44) Figures for 2005 are provisional. All other years are final.



 
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Gifted and Talented Youth

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (a) how many and (b) what proportion of secondary school pupils are members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (i) in total, (ii) broken down by local education authority and (iii) in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency. [23818]

Jacqui Smith: The White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools For All" makes clear our commitment to offer membership of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth to the full cohort of eligible 11–19 year olds.

The National Academy has to date recruited 70,982 members from secondary schools. This is 1.78 per cent. of secondary school pupils in England. Figures for local education authorities are in the following table. The Academy has 67 secondary members in the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.
Table 1: Number of NAGTY members by region and local education authority

Total secondary school populationNumber of
NAGTY members
NAGTY members as a
percentage of total population
East of England457,9309,8092.142
820Bedfordshire44,125.55861.328
873Cambridgeshire41,2931,4463.502
881Essex103,306.51,1791.141
919Hertfordshire103,3363,8743.749
821Luton13,049.53762.881
926Norfolk53,358.56331.186
874Peterborough13,5284273.156
882Southend-on-Sea14,0439987.107
935Suffolk63,0222680.425
883Thurrock8,868.5220.248
East Midlands337,6207,7542.297
831Derby18,0923241.791
830Derbyshire56,055.51,8513.302
856Leicester21,455.57823.645
855Leicestershire52,6029781.859
925Lincolnshire53,0841,6833.170
928Northamptonshire54,530.55831.069
892Nottingham18,941.55482.893
891Nottinghamshire58,3899991.711
857Rutland4,473.560.134
London568,0507,4531.312
Inner London197,2102,1581.094
202Camden17,2542361.368
201City of London1,920120.625
204Hackney13,616690.507
205Hammersmith and Fulham12,435890.716
309Haringey14,500.5680.469
206Islington8,859.500.000
207Kensington and Chelsea14,3201070.747
208Lambeth10,6041301.226
209Lewisham15,153.5390.257
316Newham18,662.52351.259
210Southwark18,273.53371.844
211Tower Hamlets15,390170.110
212Wandsworth20,0806643.307
213Westminster16,144.51550.960
Outer London370,8255,2951.428
301Barking and Dagenham12,4061731.394
302Barnet27,7271540.555
303Bexley20,632.53281.590
304Brent19,2963561.845
305Bromley27,376.56012.195
306Croydon28,402.52921.028
307Ealing21,742.54862.235
308Enfield23,807.51340.563
203Greenwich18,317.5980.535
310Harrow14,082.51671.186
311Havering17,5644972.830
312Hillingdon22,0102871.304
313Hounslow17,889.54332.420
314Kingston upon Thames13,2971210.910
315Merton12,21210.008
317Redbridge24,5506602.688
318Richmond upon Thames15,6261310.838
319Sutton17,7682581.452
320Waltham Forest16,123.51180.732
North East197,9204,1452.094
841Darlington7,133.52513.519
840Durham35,2674351.233
390Gateshead14,266.51591.114
805Hartlepool6,5933335.051
806Middlesbrough9,499.51841.937
391Newcastle upon Tyne22,2397333.296
392North Tyneside15,092.55603.710
929Northumberland31,2722570.822
807Redcar and Cleveland10,2442011.962
393South Tyneside10,362.52322.239
808Stockton-on-Tees14,849.53612.431
394Sunderland21,095.54392.081
North West532,7509,2221.731
889Blackburn with Darwen13,0721020.780
890Blackpool10,1181211.196
350Bolton23,296.51760.755
351Bury14,447650.450
875Cheshire56,494.58601.522
909Cumbria39,0624311.103
876Halton8,333.51301.560
340Knowsley10112450.445
888Lancashire84031 .59241.100
341Liverpool36,2228742.413
352Manchester31,4812070.658
353Oldham18,5566203.341
354Rochdale14,8712271.526
355Salford15,4362611.691
343Sefton24,264.54831.991
342St. Helens13,046.53512.690
356Stockport21,8783041.390
357Tameside16,2671420.873
358Trafford18,4923812.060
877Warrington142733112.179
359Wigan21,6361,0764.973
344Wirral27,358.51,1314.134
South East668,96512,6971.898
867Bracknell Forest8,925.5480.538
846Brighton and Hove17,3774572.630
825Buckinghamshire43,604.55221.197
845East Sussex36,856.52050.556
850Hampshire89,871.51,1721.304
921Isle of Wight13,2011841.394
886Kent120,7023,0552.531
887Medway225221690.750
826Milton Keynes14,665.5280.191
931Oxfordshire53,378.51,3702.567
851Portsmouth13,2781230.926
870Reading8,9941,36715.199
871Slough9,364.5770.822
852Southampton13,8581370.989
936Surrey98,3781,7181.746
869West Berkshire15,590.54993.201
938West Sussex58,0282860.493
868Windsor and Maidenhead16,441.54212.561
872Wokingham13,9248596.169
South West392,8856,5791.675
800Bath and North East Somerset17,058.53712.175
837Bournemouth11515330.287
801Bristol, City of25,863.55192.007
908Cornwall36,175.58242.278
878Devon51,5941,0171.971
835Dorset36,513.53640.997
916Gloucestershire49,6924570.920
420Isles of Scilly000.000
802North Somerset14,060.54062.888
879Plymouth20,472.53311.617
836Poole9,760.5250.256
933Somerset42,9491,3153.062
803South Gloucestershire18,733.52711.447
866Swindon11,7393072.615
880Torbay10,100.5860.851
865Wiltshire36,6442530.690
West Midlands429,7105,8821.369
330Birmingham79,943.53710.464
331Coventry24,658.57743.139
332Dudley21,4954382.038
884Herefordshire12,564.5350.279
333Sandwell20,178.52431.204
893Shropshire23,272.54471.921
334Solihull19,356.52451.266
860Staffordshire66,887.58361.250
861Stoke-on-Trent15,448.53812.466
894Telford and Wrekin12,7881441.126
335Walsall23,0482791.211
937Warwickshire41,1635931.441
336Wolverhampton19,035.53011.581
885Worcestershire49,869.57951.594
Yorkshire and the Humber386,9957,4411.923
370Barnsley13,9355363.846
380Bradford39,836.53580.899
381Calderdale17,122340.199
371Doncaster228324101.796
811East Riding of Yorkshire25,2826332.504
810Kingston Upon Hull, City of17,6513331.887
382Kirklees28,787.56362.209
383Leeds53,7757021.305
812North East Lincolnshire11,824.51070.905
813North Lincolnshire11,1022912.621
815North Yorkshire49,031.515103.080
372Rotherham21,0372451.165
373Sheffield34,9208592.460
384Wakefield26,978.51710.634
816York12,878.56164.783

 
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