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15 Nov 2007 : Column 423W—continued
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which London hotels have been used by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for conferences and off-site meetings in each month since May 2007; at what cost; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement. [163551]
Jim Knight:
The London hotels used by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in the months from May this year, and the monthly cost, are
shown in the following table. Information on the purpose of each booking could be collected only at disproportionate cost, but a significant number of these events were related to the national consultation on the Secondary Curriculum.
| Month 2007 | Hotel | Cost (£) |
School Leaving
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of additional school places required in each local education authority area if the school leaving age is increased to 18 by 2013. [164109]
Jim Knight: The Department has not made detailed projections at a local level. Demographic changes will vary between local areas, of course, as will the nature of demand from young people, and local authorities will need to use their own projections to plan accordingly.
The proposed legislation is for the education and training leaving age, not the school leaving age, to be raised to 18 years. This will be done in two stages, with the age not being raised to 18 until 2015. We estimate that most of the additional places required will be in FE colleges, not in schools.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of those who did not stay on in education after the age of 16 years in 2007 had five or more A* to C grade GCSEs; and if he will make a statement. [163758]
Jim Knight: The Youth Cohort Study (YCS) for England and Wales provides information on the activities of young people who have completed compulsory education. For the cohort of 16-year-olds who completed their compulsory education in 2002/03, the YCS estimates that 31 per cent. of those who did not stay on in full-time education after the age of 16 had five or more A* - C grade GCSEs or equivalent.
There are very significant benefits to young people from staying in education and training until at least the age of 18. Staying in learning not only supports young people to get a better job; it also improves their life chances and equips them with the personal and social skills they need to thrive throughout their lives. That is why we have embarked on a series of education and training reforms which will ensure that there are suitable progression routes for all young people, and published on 5 November plans for raising the participation age to 18.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has for the future of the educational maintenance allowance if the education leaving age is raised to (a) 17 and (b) 18 years; and if he will make a statement. [163760]
Jim Knight: Financial support for learning will be restructured when the compulsory participation age is raised to 18, and we are looking at a variety of methods to ensure that this is done in the most effective way to ensure young people are enabled to participate. In doing this we will build on the foundation of the educational maintenance allowance, and the views we gathered in the public consultation on “supporting young people to achieve.”
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what proportion of 17-year-olds participated in education and training in 2006; what estimated proportion he expects to participate in (a) 2013, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020; and if he will make a statement; [163761]
(2) what (a) proportion and (b) number of (i) 16, (ii) 17 and (iii) 18-year-olds were in education and training in each year from 1997 to 2006; and what his estimate is of the equivalent figures in each year from 2007 to 2015. [163824]
Jim Knight: The figures provided are for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds in ‘education and work based-learning’ in each year from 1997 to 2006 in England, and will include some learners in part-time training. These figures are available as additional information with the Statistical First Release published by the Department in SFR 22/2007, please see the following web link:
| Proportion participating in education and work-based learning | |||
| Academic age | |||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | |
| Snapshot numbers participating in education and work-based learning | |||
| Academic age | |||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | |
Projections of participation by 16 and 17-year-olds were published in the Green Paper “Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16”. The following tables provide these by age and also include 18-year-olds. They are subject to change following receipt of up-to-date data and publication of the Learning and Skills Council’s annual statement of priorities.
| Projections of the proportion participating in education and work-based learning | |||
| Academic a ge | |||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | |
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