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14 Nov 2005 : Column 946W—continued
Predictive Diallers
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many calls were made from call centres in her Department in 2004–05 using predictive diallers; how many such calls resulted in contact being made with the recipient without a Government agent available to talk to them; and what assessment she has made of the likely impact of Ofcom's policy on silent calls on the use of predictive diallers in departmental call centres. [28169]
Bill Rammell: The Department for Education and Skills does not use predictive diallers within call centres. No calls were made using this facility in 2004–05.
Prison Education
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding is for 2005–06 courses for prisoners at (a) entry level, (b) levels 1–3 and (c) levels 4–7 separately indicating the amount being spent on Open University courses under (c) . [27718]
Phil Hope:
Expenditure on learning and skills for offenders in custody is planned to be £110.9 million in financial year 2005–06. Within that total, £1.05 million
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is available for higher education and access to higher education courses. The budget is not otherwise hypothecated for provision at particular levels. Actual spend will be determined by the assessed needs of offender learners.
Public Service Agreements
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if she will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target to raise standards in English and mathematics so that, by 2006, 85 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieve level 4 or above; [26791]
(2) if she will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target to raise standards in English, mathematics, ICT and science in secondary education so that by 2007 85 per cent. of 14-year-olds achieve level 5 or above. [26792]
Jacqui Smith: Progress against the Department's outstanding public service agreements (PSAs) was most recently reported in the 2005 departmental report, published in June 2005, together with the Department's assessment towards achievement of the targets. A copy of the report is available from the House of Commons Library.
Provisional results for 2005 key stage 2 tests were published in a Statistical First Release (SFR) on 23 August 2005. The provisional data show 79 per cent. of pupils achieved level 4 and above in English, and 75 per cent. of pupils achieved level 4 and above in mathematics. The corresponding figures for 2004 are 78 per cent. and 74 per cent. respectively. In 1997, 63 per cent. of pupils achieved level 4 and above in English, and 62 per cent. of pupils achieved level 4 and above in mathematics. This year's results mean that compared with 1997, around 84,000 more 11-year-olds started secondary school this year with the basic literacy and numeracy skills to do well.
Provisional results for 2005 key stage 3 tests were published in an SFR on 8 September 2005. The provisional data show: 74 per cent. of pupils achieved level 5 and above in English; 74 per cent. in mathematics; 70 per cent. in science; and 69 per cent. in ICT. The corresponding figures for 2004 are: 71 per cent.; 73 per cent.; 66 per cent. and 67 per cent. respectively. In 1997, 57 per cent. of pupils achieved level 5 and above in English; 60 per cent. in mathematics; 60 per cent. in science; and 50 per cent. in ICT. Approximately 103,000 more 14-year-olds in English and 86,000 more in maths achieved the target level at key stage 3 this year than did so in 1997.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the steps she is taking to ensure the public service agreement target for the percentage of children in all schools achieving five GCSEs at grades A*-C is met. [26793]
Jacqui Smith:
Provisional 2005 results show that 55.7 per cent. of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C. This represents an increase of two percentage points compared with 2004 and an increase of 10.6 percentage points compared with 1997. The Department has a number of initiatives to ensure that schools receive the resources, advice and support that they need to raise attainment further at key stage 4. The key stage 3 national strategy has extended to become a full
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secondary national strategy for school improvement designed to raise standards, particularly in the core subjects, for all secondary school pupils. It is introducing excellent teaching and learning practices into every classroom through CPD, teaching materials and consultancy support. In addition, the secondary performance project draws on the expertise of successful schools and the Specialist Schools Trust to work in partnership with around 400 schools underperforming in value added terms.
The White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All" published last month sets out our plans to improve standards further, particularly by providing significant new incentives for schools to tailor education to the needs of every child and focus on the basics of English and mathematics.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will assess progress on the Public Service Agreement target to increase the proportion of 19-year-olds who achieve at least level 2 by three percentage points between 2004 and 2006. [26794]
Bill Rammell: The next formal assessment of this PSA target is due in February 2006. Final reporting on the target will be due in February 2007, when we will have matched data on level 2 attainment for all qualification types for young people who will be 19 in 2006.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to ensure the target is met in respect of science in the public service agreement target to raise standards in secondary schools. [26796]
Jacqui Smith: Through the secondary national strategy we are providing all schools with advice, guidance and teaching materials together with training and targeted consultancy support to improve the quality of teaching and learning in science and to raise standards. In partnership with the Welcome Trust, we have also established a network of science learning centres to enable teachers to enhance their professional skills.
New programmes of study for science are also being introduced at key stages 3 and 4, which are intended to maintain the breadth, depth and challenge of the current curriculum, while ensuring that science teaching is effective, motivating and relevant.
At key stage 3, provisional 2005 results show that 70 per cent. of pupils achieved level 5 and above in science. Provisional 2005 figures at key stage 4 show 50 per cent. of pupils achieved grade A*-C in science. The corresponding figures for 2004 are 66 per cent. and 48.2 per cent. respectively.
Register of Learning Providers
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures are in place to ensure only genuine (a) language schools and (b) education providers are admitted into the UK Register of Learning Providers. [28162]
Phil Hope:
The UK Register of Learning Providers is a voluntary register and has a robust system in place to validate all learning providers who wish to register. Learning providers, including language schools, must
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be a legal entity and their status is checked through the appropriate channel such as Companies House and the Charity Commission.
Schools
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to publish draft regulations for the implementation for the proposed new School Admissions Code of Practice. [28234]
Jacqui Smith: We have recently consulted on changes to the School Admissions Code of Practice and on Regulations covering the admission of looked after children, infant class size appeals and selection by aptitude. We expect to lay the regulations and the code before Parliament later this month, with both coming in to force in the new year.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria were used to assess the bids from (a) Rednock and (b) Cleeve school in Gloucestershire for the last round of Building Schools for the Future; and if she will make a statement. [25375]
Jacqui Smith: Gloucestershire county council bid to our Targeted Capital Fund for projects at Cleeve and Rednock schools. The Cleeve bid was successful and the Rednock bid, unsuccessful. I am putting a copy of the bidding guidance, which contains the criteria, in the House Libraries. We have provided feedback to the authority on its unsuccessful bid.
We increased the size of the fund from £493 million to £1.1 billion over two years and this enabled us to support about 45 per cent. of local authority bids, compared to 33 per cent. in the previous round. The fund is, however, very competitive and it is not possible to support all the worthwhile bids we receive.
Building Schools for the Future is our long-term strategic programme to transform the facilities for all secondary pupils over 15 years, subject to future public spending decisions. It does not involve bidding either by local authorities or individual schools. As Gloucestershire does not start in the programme until after 2011, we have just allocated the authority around £20 million to rebuild one of its worst condition schools as a 'school of the future'.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the subjects that are compulsory in secondary schools for each year group. [28184]
Jacqui Smith: The compulsory subjects of the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3, years 7–9, are: English; Mathematics; Science; Design and Technology; Information and Communication Technology; History; Geography; Modern Foreign Languages: Art and Design; Music; Physical Education; and Citizenship. Schools must also provide Religious Education, Careers Education and Sex Education.
The compulsory subjects of the National Curriculum at Key Stage 4, years 10–11, are: English; Mathematics; Science; Information and Communication Technology; Physical Education; and Citizenship. Schools must also provide Religious Education, Careers Education, and Sex Education. In addition at Key Stage 4, all pupils must undertake work-related learning. Pupils are also
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entitled if they wish to follow a course in one or more of the four entitlement areas of the arts, design and technology, humanities and modern foreign languages.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list (a) infant, (b) primary and (c) secondary schools which had a deficit in 2004–05; what estimate she has made of the number of schools likely to have a deficit by the end of 2005–06; and if she will make a statement. [24614]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not yet available. The Department is awaiting a complete dataset relating to the 2004–05 financial year. I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as the information is to hand.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils did not have a school place on (i) 1 August, (ii) 1 September and (iii) 1 October in each London borough. [24474]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, we do know that co-ordination of the secondary admissions process has resulted in fewer parents receiving multiple offers of school places and fewer being left with no offer at all. By giving local authorities a central role in co-ordinating the process for their areas, we have enabled them to obtain better information on children who have not had any offer, and this has led to them being able to intervene earlier to find school places. Local authorities estimated that, compared with the same stage in the process last year, on 1 March 2005 (the national offer date for secondary schools) the number of children in London without an offer of a school place had reduced by 40 per cent.
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to ensure that schools have adequate printing facilities which allow them to print out documents for use in classrooms. [19696]
Jacqui Smith: Each maintained school has the freedom to choose the solution that best meets its local needs for printing out documents for use in the classroom. Such facilities will form part of the school's information and communications technology package, which is currently funded through the ICT in Schools Standards Fund, Devolved Formula Capital Grant and other funding that the school or local authority chooses to make available.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills further to her oral statement of 25 October 2005, Official Report, column 171, on the Schools White Paper, if she will set out her proposals for improving transport to schools, with particular reference to the cost barriers for the most deprived pupils; and what estimate she has made of the cost of such proposals. [23713]
Jacqui Smith:
Research published by my Department in 2004 suggests that nearly two thirds of pupils who currently travel to school by bus or taxi have their fares paid by their family, not their local authority, at an average cost of £7.29 per pupil per week. Only around
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10 per cent. of children entitled to free school meals travel three or more miles to school compared to 18 per cent. of children not entitled to free school meals.
The White Paper proposes to improve transport arrangements for the most deprived pupils by extending entitlement to free home to school transport for secondary aged pupils to any one of the three nearest suitable schools, where the distance travelled is between two and six miles. For the most deprived primary aged pupils, the entitlement to free transport will be extended so that they will receive free transport to their nearest school where this is more than two miles from their home. The estimated cost of these two extensions of entitlement is £40 million per annum. Full costings and related assumptions will be included in the regulatory impact assessment that will accompany the Bill.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of school-age children who reside within six miles of three secondary schools. [25668]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been provided in the following table.
(27) Distances calculated are straight line and take no account of the route pupils follow in order to get to school.
(28) Includes maintained secondary schools, CTCs and Academies.
Source:
Annual School Census 2005 Final.
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