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22 Nov 2005 : Column 1948W—continued

G3 Academy, Chelmsley Wood

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why her Department has opposed the installation of fire sprinklers in the new G3 Academy in Chelmsley Wood. [28511]

Jacqui Smith: The Department did not oppose the installation of fire sprinklers in Grace Academy, Chelmsley Wood.

It is the Department's policy that each school plan, including that for Grace Academy, should be based on a fire risk assessment and where necessary incorporate the principles of fire engineering as an intrinsic part of its design. This is a statutory requirement of The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations, (2003) with which Academies, as independent schools, must comply.

All schools, maintained or independent are designed in accordance with the highest industry specifications to meet the functional requirements of the Building Regulations on Fire Safety. Sprinkler systems are primarily incorporated for property protection whereas the Department's main concern is that

It is therefore felt that the use of automatic sprinkler systems is unnecessary. There is no requirement in The Building Regulations 2000 or the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations, (2003) for the installation of sprinklers to be included.

The decision on whether or not to install a sprinkler system in Grace Academy rested upon the advice of the appointed independent fire consultant. The consultant's
 
22 Nov 2005 : Column 1949W
 
expert view was that a sprinkler system was not a requirement for life safety. Based on this advice Solihull metropolitan borough council's building control department accepted the project without a sprinkler system.

GCSE Results

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what proportion of 15-year-olds achieved five or more grades at A* to C at GCSE or equivalent which included GCSEs in English and mathematics in each year since 1995; [25419]

(2) what proportion of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A*to C or equivalent including English and mathematics, broken down by local education authority in (a) 1997 and (b) 2005; [25671]

(3) how many and what proportion of non-selective schools had more than 70 per cent. of pupils achieving (i) five GCSEs at grade A*to C or equivalent and (ii) five GCSEs at grade A*to C or equivalent including English and mathematics in each year since 1995. [25672]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested can be found in the following tables:
Table 1: Percentage of 15 year old pupils(49) achieving 5 or moreA*-C at GCSE or equivalent(50) including English and mathematics

Academic yearPercentage
2004/05(52)44.1
2003/0442.7
2002/03(51)41.9
2001/0242.1
2000/0140.7
1999/200040.0
1998/9938.6
1997/9837.0
1996/9735.6


(49) Age at start of academic year i.e. 31 August.
(50) Figures from 1996/97 to 2002/03 include GCSE/GNVQs only, figures from 2003/04 include other equivalent qualifications approved pre-16.
(51) Figures decreased in 2002/03 because percentage of pupils achieving A*-C in Mathematics decreased.
(52) Figures for 2004/05 are provisional, all other figures are final.



Table 2: Percentage of 15-year-old pupils(53) achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE or equivalent(54) including English and mathematics by local authority

Local authorityPercentage
Academic year 1996/97
Barking and Dagenham22.0
Barnet42.2
Barnsley21.0
Bath and North East Somerset40.2
Bedfordshire33.9
Berkshire40.0
Bexley35.6
Birmingham25.0
Bolton30.3
Bournemouth40.5
Bradford20.8
Brent30.1
Brighton and Hove27.1
Bromley42.5
Buckinghamshire50.4
Bury37.3
Calderdale29.4
Cambridgeshire34.9
Camden35.1
Cheshire37.5
City of Bristol22.6
City of Derby26.7
City of Kingston-upon-Hull14.8
Cornwall36.0
Coventry27.1
Croydon28.4
Cumbria33.4
Darlington28.1
Derbyshire33.6
Devon33.8
Doncaster24.8
Dorset36.6
Dudley31.4
Durham27.4
Ealing28.2
East Riding of Yorkshire34.2
East Sussex33.3
Enfield31.4
Essex35.0
Gateshead31.5
Gloucestershire41.6
Greenwich19.9
Hackney17.3
Hammersmith and Fulham32.5
Hampshire37.6
Haringey17.9
Harrow40.0
Hartlepool19.6
Havering37.9
Hereford and Worcester34.8
Hertfordshire41.5
Hillingdon30.1
Hounslow31.3
Isle of Wight32.0
Isles of Scilly27.8
Islington16.5
Kensington and Chelsea28.0
Kent37.5
Kingston upon Thames44.7
Kirklees30.5
Knowsley14.6
Lambeth18.6
Lancashire34.6
Leeds28.5
Leicester City24.8
Leicestershire34.8
Lewisham19.4
Lincolnshire39.3
Liverpool23.8
Luton23.3
Manchester19.1
Merton30.1
Middlesbrough21.0
Milton Keynes21.9
Newcastle upon Tyne24.9
Newham23.2
Norfolk34.0
North East Lincolnshire22.8
North Lincolnshire30.2
North Somerset38.3
North Tyneside31.0
North Yorkshire42.7
Northamptonshire31.3
Northumberland34.2
Nottinghamshire28.0
Oldham27.4
Oxfordshire36.7
Poole40.8
Portsmouth18.5
Redbridge39.3
Redcar and Cleveland30.0
Richmond upon Thames36.5
Rochdale25.3
Rotherham27.8
Rutland40.7
Salford22.1
Sandwell17.7
Sefton35.6
Sheffield29.3
Shropshire37.0
Solihull38.6
Somerset37.6
South Gloucestershire33.3
South Tyneside27.3
Southampton29.4
Southwark17.1
St. Helens30.0
Staffordshire34.5
Stockport40.8
Stockton on Tees28.9
Stoke-on-Trent22.5
Suffolk33.5
Sunderland26.1
Surrey40.0
Sutton47.3
Swindon34.9
Tameside28.5
Tower Hamlets15.0
Trafford44.3
Wakefield28.2
Walsall25.4
Waltham Forest25.0
Wandsworth23.2
Warwickshire34.9
West Sussex38.3
Westminster22.5
Wigan34.6
Wiltshire39.0
Wirral35.3
Wolverhampton23.3
York41.0
Academic year 2004/053
Barking and Dagenham36.7
Barnet57.2
Barnsley35.4
Bath and North East Somerset54.1
Bedfordshire46.0
Bexley47.3
Birmingham42.3
Blackburn with Darwen41.0
Blackpool34.9
Bolton41.7
Bournemouth46.9
Bracknell Forest44.0
Bradford35.7
Brent47.3
Brighton and Hove43.5
Bristol31.6
Bromley52.8
Buckinghamshire63.0
Bury53.8
Calderdale45.8
Cambridgeshire53.9
Camden43.5
Cheshire53.9
City of Peterborough42.3
City of Plymouth43.8
Cornwall49.7
Coventry41.1
Croydon45.9
Cumbria49.9
Darlington45.3
Derby42.4
Derbyshire47.6
Devon49.3
Doncaster38.0
Dorset52.8
Dudley43.4
Durham43.2
Ealing48.8
East Riding of Yorkshire52.4
East Sussex45.3
Enfield45.5
Essex47.2
Gateshead43.9
Gloucestershire57.2
Greenwich37.4
Hackney40.4
Halton37.0
Hammersmith and Fulham52.4
Hampshire53.1
Haringey35.9
Harrow56.5
Hartlepool39.4
Havering53.6
Herefordshire50.9
Hertfordshire55.3
Hillingdon41.4
Hounslow51.1
Isle of Wight34.1
Isles of Scilly90.9
Islington32.5
Kensington and Chelsea44.0
Kent50.2
Kingston upon Thames65.4
Kingston-upon-Hull30.2
Kirklees42.0
Knowsley30.0
Lambeth37.4
Lancashire48.7
Leeds41.8
Leicester City35.7
Leicestershire51.0
Lewisham41.2
Lincolnshire49.9
Liverpool34.9
Luton38.1
Manchester30.7
Medway43.8
Merton40.2
Middlesbrough31.4
Milton Keynes44.5
Newcastle upon Tyne36.0
Newham46.6
Norfolk46.9
North East Lincolnshire34.0
North Lincolnshire41.4
North Somerset50.8
North Tyneside44.8
North Yorkshire56.7
Northamptonshire45.0
Northumberland51.0
Nottingham City27.9
Nottinghamshire40.8
Oldham40.1
Oxfordshire49.2
Poole57.6
Portsmouth28.4
Reading41.4
Redbridge59.7
Redcar and Cleveland40.4
Richmond upon Thames50.9
Rochdale39.3
Rotherham41.9
Rutland56.5
Salford37.9
Sandwell30.2
Sefton44.2
Sheffield42.1
Shropshire55.9
Slough53.1
Solihull52.9
Somerset49.8
South Gloucestershire48.6
South Tyneside36.1
Southampton39.2
Southend50.2
Southwark31.8
St. Helens42.3
Staffordshire47.0
Stockport47.9
Stockton on Tees40.6
Stoke on Trent35.3
Suffolk49.1
Sunderland38.6
Surrey54.2
Sutton63.2
Swindon42.0
Tameside40.1
Telford and the Wrekin40.8
Thurrock38.8
Torbay48.8
Tower Hamlets31.8
Trafford62.2
Wakefield45.2
Walsall38.3
Waltham Forest41.0
Wandsworth44.9
Warrington51.1
Warwickshire49.4
West Berkshire51.3
West Sussex49.0
Westminster47.5
Wigan43.0
Wiltshire52.8
Windsor and Maidenhead53.4
Wirral49.6
Wokingham59.1
Wolverhampton37.1
Worcestershire47.9
York49.9


(53) Age at start of academic year i.e. 31st August.
(54) Figures from 1996/97 include GCSE/GNVQs, figures from 2003/04 include other equivalent qualifications approved pre-16.
(55) 2004/05 figures are provisional, 1996/97 figures are final.
(56) Due to reorganisation, LA names and boundaries are not comparable for 1996/97 and 2004/05.



 
22 Nov 2005 : Column 1954W
 

Table 3: Number and percentage of non-selective schools(57) with 70 per cent. or more of 15-year-old pupils(58) achieving (i) five or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent(59) and (ii) five or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent(59) including English and mathematics in each year since 1995

Numbers
Numbers
5+ A*-C5+ A*-C inc. E&M5+ A*-C5+ A*-C inc. E&MNumber of schools(57)
2003/0441341314.03.72,946
2002/0336736712.52.72,931
2001/0229829810.22.32,935
2000/012392398.11.82,938
1999/20002082087.01.62,954
1998/991801806.11.52,964
1997/981151153.80.82,999
1996/9779792.60.83,000
1995/9673732.40.73,001
1996/9552521.70.53,003


(57) Includes maintained, mainstream schools with no selection policy upon entry.
(58) Age at start of academic year i.e. 31 August.
(59) Figures from 1996/97 include GCSE/GNVQs, figures from 2003/04 include other equivalent qualifications approved pre-16.
(60) The number and proportion of schools are not provided for 2004/05 as this data are currently being checked by schools as part of the Achievement and Attainment tables checking exercise. Revised figures, which take account of any amendments made by the schools during this exercise will be published in January 2006.



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