House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 11 Dec 2006 (pt 0034)

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	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
1997	5,452	264	4.8	361	6.6
1998	5,567	244	4.4	428	7.7
1999	5,678	237	4.2	358	6.3
2000	5,799	235	4.1	372	6.4
2001	5,891	225	3.8	374	6.3
2002	6,056	247	4.1	392	6.5
2003	6,185	241	3.9	379	6.1
2004	6,308	268	4.2	396	6.3
2005	6,333	279	4.4	437	6.9
2006	6,356	301	4.7	423	6.7
⁽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.

Graduate Teacher Programme

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people on the Graduate Teacher Programme are below the age of 25. [107397]

Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of first-year trainees commencing the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) in the academic year 2004/05 and 2005/06 together with a breakdown of those aged under 25.

GTP First-year Trainees
	2004/05	2005/06
Under 25	1,290	1,420
25 plus	4,060	3,990
Percentage of under 25	24	26
Notes: 1. GTP is an employment-based route. 2. Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10. Source: The TDA employment-based data management system (EBRDMS).

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students took part in (a) the Graduate Teacher Programme and (b) the Post Graduate Certificate of Education in the last year for which figures are available. [107398]

Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of first-year trainees commencing the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) in the academic years 2004/05 and 2005/06; and the number of first-year trainees commencing a mainstream postgraduate programme in 2004/05. Information for the postgraduate programme for 2005/06 is not yet available. The mainstream data include all first-year trainees on a postgraduate programme leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Not all of these programmes will include the award of PGCE and we do not collect information about the PGCE status of the programme.

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First-year Trainees Commencing Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training in England
	2004/05	2005/06
GTP	5,360	5,410
Mainstream PG	24,930	n/a
Total	30,290	n/a
Notes: 1. Figures for mainstream PG include universities and other HE institutions, SCITT and OU, but exclude employment-based routes. 2. GTP is an employment-based route. 3. Figures are individually rounded to the nearest10 and may not sum. Source: The TDA employment-based data management system (EBRDMS) and the performance profiles.

Higher Education Funding Council

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s annual budget was spent on the provision of foundation degrees in each year since the introduction of that qualification. [105521]

Bill Rammell: Figures are only available for the last three years from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and are shown in the following table:

	Percentage	Percentage	£ million
	As proportion of mainstream T funding	As proportion of total HEFCE grant	HEFCE mainstream T funding for FDs
2004-05	3.1	1.9	111
2005-06	4.3	2.5	157
2006-07	5.0	2.9	193

International GCSE

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the (a) Office for Standards in Education and (b) Qualifications and Curriculum Authority recognises the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment. [104280]

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector Christine Gilbert has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Library.

The policy of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is to recruit people with the experience and skills most suited to the needs of each post, and any relevant qualifications may be taken into consideration.

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 7 December 2006:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NUMBER 104280: INTERNATIONAL GCSE

Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.

You asked whether the Office for Standards in Education recognises the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment.

I am advised that Ofsted does not specify GCSE qualifications as a prerequisite for recruitment purposes. Through our
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recruitment process, potential candidates are asked to demonstrate that they have the required competencies for the advertised role through a statement of suitability and the formal interview process. Some of our roles do require professional qualifications and some of our inspector vacancies are advertised as requiring a degree.

A copy of this reply has been sent to Lord Adonis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Local Government

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets his Department sets for local authorities. [104927]

Jim Knight: Local authorities are currently required under legislation to set 16 targets relating to educational performance, and for 2008 onwards, two on early years outcomes. The recent Local Government White Paper announced that, as a key component of the new local authority performance system, Local Area Agreements would include no more than 35 targets across all areas of delivery, plus the statutory early years and attainment targets, determined in the light of performance against a new national indicator set.

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New Secondary Schools

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost is of building a new secondary school. [104937]

Jim Knight: The Department does not hold average costs of schools. Schools are designed and procured locally. However, a 1,000 pupil secondary school on a site without particular problems, in an area of average building prices, would typically be in the range of £18-22 million. This excludes the cost of site acquisition. Many sites have circumstances that can add considerably to costs. Building prices vary significantly from one region to another.

Nursery Places: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places there were in York in each year since 1992. [106474]

Beverley Hughes: The available information on the number of part-time funded places filled by three and four-year-olds in York local authority area is shown in the table.

Number of part-time funded places^{( 1,2)} filled by three and four-year-olds Local authority: York Position in January each year
	Part-time funded places filled by 3-year-olds			Part-time funded places filled by 4-year-olds
	Maintained nursery and primary schools^{( 3)}	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers	Total 3-year-olds	Maintained nursery and primary schools^{( 4)}	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers	Total 4-year-olds
1997	680	⁽⁵⁾—	680	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾1,900
1998	750	⁽⁵⁾—	750	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾1,800
1999	810	⁽⁵⁾—	810	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾1,900
2000	790	⁽⁷⁾0	800	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾2,000
2001	700	⁽⁷⁾920	1,600	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾1,800
2002	690	⁽⁷⁾950	1,600	1,500	⁽⁶⁾390	1,900
2003	640	⁽⁷⁾980	1,600	1,500	⁽⁸⁾380	1,900
2004	660	⁽⁹⁾900	1,600	1,500	⁽¹⁰⁾340	1,800
2005	700	⁽⁹⁾940	1,600	1,400	⁽¹⁰⁾380	1,700
2006	630	⁽⁹⁾1,000	1,700	1,400	⁽¹⁰⁾420	1,900
⁽¹⁾ A place is equal to five or more sessions and can be filled by more than one child. ⁽²⁾ Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate. ⁽³⁾ Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools’ Census. ^{(4 )}Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census. ^{(5 )}Not available. ^{(6 )}Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. ^{(7 )}Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. ^{(8 )}Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools’ Census. ^{(9 )}Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census. ^{(10 )}Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census. Note: Nursery Education Grant funding for early years places was introduced in 1996-97 for four-year-olds and in 1999-2000 for three-year-olds, therefore, data is not available prior to 1997.

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