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6 Jun 2007 : Column 494Wcontinued
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education grants were given to 16 to 19 year olds in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the total cost was of these grants; and if he will make a statement. [135788]
Bill Rammell
[holding answer 8 May 2007]: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council who operates learner support programmes for 16 to 19-year-olds, other than those in higher education.
Mark Haysom, the councils Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 25 May 2007:
I am writing in response to your recent Parliamentary Question that asked;
How many education grants were given to 16-19 year olds in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the total cost was of these grants.
The following table shows Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) take-up for England during each academic year since the introduction of the allowance. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
Take-up of EMA in each academic year | |
Take Up | |
Total expenditure is shown in the following table.
EMA Expenditure in each financial year (National Scheme) | |
EMA student payments costs (£ million) | |
(1) This figure is provisional |
I hope you find this information useful.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children diagnosed with eating disorders before the age of 15 years subsequently achieved five GCSEs at level A-C in each of the last 10 years. [139137]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the impact of recent changes in funding formula for Gypsy and Traveller education on (a) pupil participation and (b) recruitment of teaching assistants from traveller communities. [139292]
Jim Knight: From April 2006, the Vulnerable Children Grant and three other grants were put together to form a Childrens Services Grant (CSG). The CSG also contains additional funding to help local authorities and schools to administer the Every Child Matters agenda.
Local authorities have more spending freedom over a larger pot of money to target where it is most needed, including towards support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils. The Department has made clear in its Guidance on Children and Young Peoples Plan the need for local authorities to set out improvements to the outcomes for all children and young people with
specific focus on narrowing the gap between those who do well and those who do not.
Over the last three years there has been an increase in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils participating in education at school. While we do not collect data, anecdotal evidence is that there is also an increase in recruitment of people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities working within Traveller Education Services.
The Department will be assessing the provision made by local authorities to improve the life chances of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children through its research project which will be launched in June 2007 and the inspection framework.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many (a) maintained secondary schools and (b) independent secondary schools fell within each percentage point in terms of the proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved nine or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics in 2006; [117654]
(2) how many (a) maintained secondary schools and (b) independent secondary schools fell within each percentage point in terms of the proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved seven or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics in 2006. [117655]
Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
This analysis is based on the revised 2006 KS4 data.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the variation was in the proportion of children entitled to free school dinners between the school in each local education authority with the lowest entitlement and the school with the highest in (a) 1997 and (b) 2005-06; and what category of school was the (i) highest and (ii) lowest in each case. [137764]
Jim Knight: The requested information has been placed in the Library.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that foundation degrees awarded by further education colleges will be structured so as to allow those students who wish to do so to pursue shorter honours degree courses. [139272]
Bill Rammell
[holding answer 4 June 2007]: Since their introduction in 2000, all foundation degrees have incorporated progression agreements as a core element of the qualification. Progression agreements are designed to ensure that all foundation degree students can identify appropriate opportunities for progression on to more advanced study, should they so wish. Further study will typically be the final year of an honours degree programme,
but progression could also be to a relevant professional or higher vocational qualification. Progression routes are negotiated by institutions at the time of establishing new Foundation Degree programmes. The Foundation Degree Qualification Benchmark statement, produced by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, sets out detailed guidance for institutions on how progression routes should be established and maintained.
Progression agreements will continue to be an essential aspect of all foundation degree programmes, regardless of the awarding institution. The proposals in the Further Education and Training Bill to allow further education institutions in England to apply for the power to award foundation degrees only will not change this core characteristic of the foundation degree. I intend to table a Government amendment that seeks to address the issue of progression on the face of the Bill.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary age children were home schooled in each education authority in each year since 1997. [138503]
Jim Knight: Parents may exercise their right to educate their children at home on a temporary or permanent basis. We do not collect information about the numbers of children whose parents provide education at home, and it would be impractical to do so given the transient nature of some of this type of provision. A recent study on the prevalence of home education in England, conducted by York Consulting estimated that there were around 16,000 children being educated at home that were known to the local authority. We have not made any estimate of the number of home educated children that are not known to their local authority.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Ofsted inspectors have physical education as their subject specialism. [138882]
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 has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 30 May 2007:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked how many Ofsted inspectors have physical education as their subject specialism.
Eleven HMI currently employed by Ofsted have either physical education or an aspect of physical education, such as exercise and fitness coaching, as their subject specialism. In addition, Ofsted makes use of additional inspectors supplied by our Regional Inspection Service Providers.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the last meeting held between officials or Ministers in his Department and officials or Ministers of HM Treasury to discuss standards of numeracy in primary schools. [140149]
Jim Knight: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on personalised learning in primary schools in (a) English and (b) mathematics in each financial year since 1997-98. [140151]
Jim Knight: The Department does not collect this information.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils were (a) permanently excluded and (b) given fixed period exclusions from pupil referral units in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority. [139512]
Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the table.
The first year for which information on exclusions from pupil referral units is available relates to the 2003/04 academic year. Data on exclusions from pupil referral units were collected retrospectively via the Termly Exclusions Survey. Exclusions data for 2004/05 academic year were published in June 2006.
The Termly Exclusions Survey has now discontinued so data on exclusions from Pupil Referral Units in 2005/06 are not available.
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