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Foundation Schools

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many foundation schools were given notice to improve in each year since 1999. [39306]

Jacqui Smith: Ofsted give a school a notice to improve when they judge that it requires significant improvement. This category came into force on 1 September 2005 and it replaced the previous designation of serious weaknesses. 18 primary and 18 secondary foundation schools went into serious weaknesses during the period 1 September 1999 to 31 August 2005. The breakdown by year is shown in the following table together with the total number of primary and secondary schools found to have serious weaknesses for comparison purposes.

Since 1 September 2005, two primary and four secondary foundation schools have been issued with a notice to improve. This compares with a total of 39 primary and 26 secondary schools that have been placed in this new category.

	Number of foundation schools with serious weaknesses		Number of schools with serious weaknesses
	Primary	Secondary	Primary	Secondary
1 September 1999 to 31 August 2000	4	2	226	60
1 September 2000 to 31 August 2001	4	2	180	30
1 September 2001 to 31 August 2002	2	3	151	36
1 September 2002 to 31 August 2003	3	3	121	29
1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004	2	3	150	33
1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005	3	5	82	21

Further Education

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of course provision is allocated to (a) A-levels and (b) other vocational courses in each college in England. [25000]

Bill Rammell: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). We do not agree specific budgets with the LSC for different types of qualifications or budgets for individual colleges and providers. It is for the LSC to determine the most appropriate balance of investment in learning provision, within the funds allocated to it and within the overall framework set by Government. The LSC works closely with Regional Skills Partnerships to ensure that
 
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emerging skills needs are identified and addressed. Local LSCs agree development plans with colleges to meet the needs of local communities both of learners and employers.

This is a matter for the LSC and Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the Library.

Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 18 November 2005:

Please find enclosed information relating to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which Bill Rammell has referred to the Learning and
 

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Skills Council were you asked 'what proportion of course provision is allocated to a) A-levels and b) other vocational courses in each college in England.

We have provided you with the total number of courses offered in each college, and the proportion of those which are A-levels. The total number of courses includes vocational courses, although we cannot provide details on the number of 'other vocational courses' as there is no specific category for such courses.

Free School Meals

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils attending maintained (a) grammar schools and (b) comprehensive schools were eligible for free school meals in each year since 1995. [39507]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the table.
Maintained secondary schools: number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals⁽⁹⁹⁾, position as at January each year: England

	Grammar schools	All other secondary schools(100)	Total secondary schools
1995
Number on roll	122,270	2,866,680	2,988,950
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,730	534,710	539,440
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	3.9	18.7	18.0
1996
Number on roll	126,770	2,880,170	3,006,940
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,800	546,110	550,900
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	3.8	19.0	18.3
1997
Number on roll	127,780	2,909,220	3,036,990
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,730	548,170	552,900
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	3.7	18.8	18.2
1998
Number on roll	129,410	2,939,620	3,069,030
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,400	532,670	537,070
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	3.4	18.1	17.5
1999
Number on roll	140,010	2,978,270	3,118,280
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,320	523,020	527,340
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	3.1	17.6	16.9
2000
Number on roll	144,410	3,033,590	3,178,000
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	4,070	519,560	523,630
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.8	17.1	16.5
2001
Number on roll	145,670	3,081,300	3,226,970
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	3,560	506,120	509,680
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.4	16.4	15.8
2002
Number on roll	147,790	3,113,140	3,260,930
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	3,260	483,090	486,350
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.2	15.5	14.9
2003
Number on roll	150,770	3,157,720	3,308,490
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	3,160	475,750	478,920
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.1	15.1	14.5
2004
Number on roll	152,650	3,174,150	3,326,800
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	3,380	473,910	477,290
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.2	14.9	14.3
2005
Number on roll	154,100	3,163,490	3,317,590
Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(101)	3,300	462,220	465,520
Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	2.1	14.6	14.0

⁽⁹⁹⁾ Prior to 2003 includes dually registered pupils and excludes boarding pupils; from 2003 onwards includes dually registered and boarding pupils.
⁽¹⁰⁰⁾ Includes middle deemed, comprehensive, modern, technical and other secondary schools.
⁽¹⁰¹⁾ Prior to 2002 numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals were collected at school level. From 2002 onwards these numbers have been derived from pupil level returns.
Note:
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual Schools Census.





 
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GCSEs

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the total number of level 2 GCSE equivalent awards were in vocational subjects for each academic year since 2001–02. [40444]

Jacqui Smith: The available information is given in the following table.
Table 1: Results⁽¹⁰²⁾ of 15-year-old pupils⁽¹⁰³⁾ in Level 2 qualifications for pupils in all schools by type of qualification

Number of Level 2 qualifications
	2004–05(104)	2003–04(104)	2002–03(104)	2001–02(104)
Full Course GCSEs(105)	3,035,800	3,016,800	2,894,300	2,846,200
Short Course GCSEs(105)(5508580106)	197,433	192,454	163,045	149,746
GNVQ Full Intermediate(107)	56,888	45,839	33,361	14,318
GNVQ Part one Intermediate	—	—	47,100	38,269
GCSEs in Vocational Subjects(105)(5508580106)	54,178	36,503	—	—
Basic Skills	6,193	123	—	—
Key Skills	5,930	6,581	—	—
VRQ	5,823	1,882	—	—
NVQ Language units(109)	287	—	—	—
NVQ	48	14	—	—
Total awards	3,362,580	3,300,196	3,137,806	3,048,533

1. Including achievements by these pupils in previous academic years.
2. Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August.
3. Figures for 2004–05 are provisional, all other figures are final.
4. Level 2 qualifications include those at grades A*-C for GCSE qualifications.
5. Short course GCSEs are equivalent to ½ Full course GCSE.
6. GNVQ Full Intermediate are equivalent to 4 Full course GCSEs.
7. GCSEs in Vocational Subjects are equivalent to 2 Full course GCSEs.
8. There were no qualifications in NVQ language units prior to 2004–05.
Note:
From 2003–04 a new group of qualifications approved pre-16 were incorporated.

Vocational qualifications include GCSEs in vocational subjects, GNVQs, VRQs, NVQs and NVQ language units.

The following table shows the percentage of level 2 awards in vocational qualifications for each year.
Table 2: Percentage of Level 2 awards in vocational qualifications for pupils in all schools

	2004–05	2003–04	2002–03	2001–02
Number of awards in level 2 vocational qualifications	117,224	84,238	80,461	52,587
Total number of awards in level 2 qualifications	3,362,580	3,300,196	3,137,806	3,048,533
Percentage of awards for level 2 qualifications in vocational subjects	3.5	2.6	2.6	1.7

 
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