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16 Apr 2007 : Column 302W—continued
The Department uses the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18-30 in higher education towards 50 per cent: the latest provisional figure for 2005/06 is 43 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at parliamentary constituency level or local authority level.
Languages: GCSE
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of students achieved A*-C at GCSE in a modern language in the 10 per cent. of schools with the (a) highest and (b) lowest levels of free school meal entitlement in (i) 2006 and (ii) 1997. [131295]
Jim Knight: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Literacy: Assessments
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 2 March 2007, Official Report, columns 1610-1W, on the secondary education curriculum, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Assessing Pupil Progress materials for reading and writing that were distributed to all secondary schools in 2006. [126836]
Jim Knight: Yes. Copies will also be sent directly to the hon. Member.
Literacy: Standards
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of pupils left school functionally illiterate in (a) the last year for which figures are available and (b) each of the previous 10 years. [130156]
Jim Knight: The answer to this PQ has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Local Education Authorities: Tribunals
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether his Department keeps records (a) nationally and (b) broken down by authority of the costs to local education authorities of preparing for cases before tribunals. [130506]
Jim Knight [holding answer 29 March 2007]: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this information. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) is no longer managed by the Department. On 1 April 2006 SENDIST became part of the Tribunals Service, an executive agency of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Mathematics: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why it is proposed that there should no longer be a foundation and higher programme of study in mathematics at key stage 4 under the proposed changes to the curriculum of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. [126013]
Jim Knight: Mathematics is currently the only subject to have a tiered programme of study at key stage 4. Pupils should be entitled to access all learning relevant to the key stage at the level most appropriate to them. The current tiered curriculum creates an artificial ceiling of expectation for pupils following the foundation tier. The new single programme of study will enable teachers to personalise the curriculum to suit the needs of individual pupils, allowing them to engage with mathematics at all levels.
Numeracy: Teachers
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers who qualified between 1 May 2000 and 30 April 2001 have not passed the numeracy skills test. [130312]
Jim Knight: According to figures provided by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) there are currently 538 teachers who qualified between 1 May 2000 and 30 April 2001 and who have not passed the numeracy skills test. GTCE records indicate that of these 538 there are 87 teaching in maintained schools or non-maintained special schools.
Nurseries: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places for three and four-year-olds there were in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each of the last five years. [130934]
Beverley Hughes: The available information is shown in the following tables.
| Number of part time funded places( 1,2,3 ) filled by three and four-year-olds, parliamentary constituency: Eastbourne, position in January each year | ||||||
| Three-year-olds | Four-year-olds | |||||
| Year | Maintained nursery and primary schools( 4) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers( 5) | Total three-year-olds | Maintained nursery and primary schools( 6) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers( 7) | Total four-year-olds |
| (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 100 if they exceed 1,000 and to the nearest 10 otherwise. (3) Prior to 2004, information on early education places was derived from returns made by local authorities as part of the Nursery Education Grant (NEG) data collection exercise. These data were collected at local authority level, therefore, data for Eastbourne parliamentary constituency are not available. (4) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (5) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Schools Census. (6) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (7) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Schools Census. | ||||||
| Number of part time funded places12 filled by three and four-year-olds, local authority: East Sussex, position in January each year | ||||||
| Three-year-olds | Four-year-olds | |||||
| Year | Maintained nursery and primary schools( 3) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers | Total three-year-olds | Maintained nursery and primary schools( 4) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers | Total four-year-olds |
| n/a = not available (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 100 if they exceed 1,000 and to the nearest 10 otherwise. (3) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (4) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (5) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. (6) For the years 1997-2001, four-year-old sub-national figures from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise can not be disaggregated between the maintained and private, voluntary and independent sectors. (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 date collection exercise and the 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 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 Schools Census. | ||||||
The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 32/2006 “Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2006 (final)” in August, which is available on my Department's website at:
ww.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
Politics and Government: Children
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of setting up and maintaining the DirectgovKids website; what its purpose is; and how many visitors it has had. [131360]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is as follows.
What is the purpose of DirectgovKids?
DirectgovKids (www.direct.gov.uk/kids) is the single site within Government for five to 11-year-olds.
The purpose of the site is to support the UN convention on the Rights of the Child, to inform children on how Government affect their lives, and to help them learn about and understand the society they are growing up in.
It contributes towards meeting Public Sector Agreement and Every Child Matters targets related to children, e.g. with content on healthy eating and exercise, democracy and participation.
DirectgovKids can be used in the classroom, across the curriculum, as it has many useful lesson materials. It also has more specific applications for the teaching of Citizenship/Personal, Social and Health Education for Key Stages 1 and 2. Children can also access it from their home personal computer.
What was the cost of setting up and maintaining the website?
The cost of setting up the website was:
2005/06—£983,751 + vat
2006/07—£947,216 +vat
This is 25p on average per year for each child aged 5+ in a primary school in England.
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