| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
11 Dec 2006 : Column 870W—continued
Creationism
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if his Department will ban the teaching of creationism in science as a scientific theory; [107682]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that creationism is presented as a religious rather than scientific theory. [107683]
Jim Knight: To meet the requirements of the national curriculum for science, teachers have to teach about scientific theories. Creationism is not a recognised scientific theory; therefore, it is not included in the science curriculum.
The science programme of study sets out the legal requirements of the national curriculum. It clearly states that pupils should be taught: how uncertainties in scientific knowledge and scientific ideas change over time; the role of the scientific community in validating these changes; that variation within species can lead to evolutionary changes; and, similarities and differences between species can be measured and classified.
Creationism can be explored in religious education as part of developing an understanding of different beliefs. It is up to the local SACREs (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education) to set the syllabus for how this should be done.
The Department is currently working with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to communicate this message to schools.
Exam Results
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils in England achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE excluding (a) equivalents and (b) Applied GCSE Double Awards in the last year for which figures are available. [106225]
Jim Knight: Provisional 2006 figures show that51.9 per cent. of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4(1) achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE only.53.9 per cent. of the same pupils achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE and equivalents excluding Vocational GCSE Double Awards.
(1) Pupils in Key Stage 4 in the 2005/06 academic year.
Exam Subjects
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which (a) AS/Level and (b) A1 Level subject saw the (i) smallest and (ii) largest intake of students in each of the last five years. [107035]
Jim Knight: Figures supplied by the Joint Council for Qualifications show that, in each of the last five years (2002 to 2006), the greatest number of GCE A and AS level entries in the United Kingdom have been in English and the fewest number of entries have been in Irish.
Foundation Degree Courses
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost is to the public purse of the completion of a foundation degree, broken down by subject. [105522]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is shown in the table.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England have stated that the average recurrent teaching grant for foundation degrees assuming completion in two years full-time (or two years full-time equivalent part-time) at 2006-07 prices is as follows.
| £ | ||
| Subject type | Full-time | Part-time |
|
Other high cost subjects with a laboratory, studio or field work element | ||
Free School Meals
Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of pupils in the Stoke Central constituency received free school meals in each of the last three years. [106439]
Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the tables.
| Maintained nursery and primary schools( 1) : school meal arrangements, position in January each year 2004 to 2006, Stoke Central constituency | |||||
| All pupils( 2) | |||||
| Number on roll | Number of pupils taking free school meals( 3) | Percentage taking free school meals | Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals | Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals | |
| Maintained secondary schools( 1) : school meal arrangements, position in January each year 2004 to 2006, Stoke Central constituency | |||||
| All pupils( 2) | |||||
| Number on roll | Number of pupils taking free school meals( 3) | Percentage taking free school meals | Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals | Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes boarders and dually registered pupils. (3) Number of pupils who took a free school meal on the day of the census in January. | |||||
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) Wantage constituency received free school meals in each year since 1997. [106567]
Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the tables.
| Wantage parliamentary constituency | |||||
| Number on roll( 1,2) | Number of pupils taking free school meals( 3) | Percentage taking free school meals | Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals | Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals | |
| (1) 1997 to 2002 includes dually registered pupils and excludes boarding pupils. (2 )From 2003 includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils. (3 )Number of pupils who took a free school meal on the day of the census in January. | |||||
| Maintained secondary schools( 1) : school meal arrangements 1997 to 2006 position in January each year Oxfordshire local authority and Wantage parliamentary constituency | |||||
| Oxfordshire local authority | |||||
| Number on roll( 1,2) | Number of pupils taking free school meals( 3) | Percentage taking free school meals | Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals | Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |