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21 Jan 2009 : Column 1544W—continued
Gifted Children: Disadvantaged
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether Teach First advocates are being used to mentor disadvantaged gifted and talented students from state schools in (a) London, (b) the Black Country and (c) Greater Manchester. [247405]
Jim Knight: The Teach First Advocates scheme, part of the City Challenge Gifted and Talented Education Strand (City GATES), is now called the Higher Education Access Programme for Schools (HEAPS). HEAPS has been piloted in London and will continue there. It is being rolled out in Greater Manchester from this academic year (2008/09) and will be extended to the Black Country in academic year 2009/10.
Languages: GCSE
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of pupils who gained a GCSE in (a) German, (b) French and (c) Spanish were educated in (i) the state sector and (ii) the independent sector in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by individual grade. [243853]
Jim Knight: The table shows the number of pupils at the end of KS4 who achieved a GCSE in French, German and Spanish by grade in 2008.
| A* | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | Total entries | |
Languages: Teachers
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many secondary school teachers of (a) Mandarin, (b) Urdu, (c) German, (d) Italian and (e) Japanese (i) there are in maintained secondary schools and (ii) qualified in the last year for which data are available. [249230]
Jim Knight: Information on secondary school teachers and the subjects they are teaching is collected in the Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey (SSCSS). The most recent survey was carried out in February 2007, and achieved a sample of 14,137 teachers in 327 schools. Results were grossed up to provide national estimates of the number of secondary school teachers in England by subject area.
The SSCSS survey estimated the following numbers of teachers delivering at least one period a week of the requested subjects(1):
| Number of secondary school teachers of languages | |
| Subject | Count of teachers |
| (1 )The table may include some double counting, as teachers are counted once under subject they are teaching. For example, a teacher who teaches Italian and German will be counted once under each subject. The table gives national estimates. Note: Data are rounded to nearest 10 Source: Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey, 2007 | |
The table includes a category of teachers who teach ‘Languages/Other Languages’—we do not know which language(s) these teachers are delivering and it is possible that it may include any of the subjects listed in the table. In addition, care should be taken when interpreting national estimates based upon a sample survey.
The number of teachers gaining QTS in Modern Foreign Languages in 2005-06, the most recent year for which data are available, was 1,260 (excluding those on employment based routes). We do not know which specific languages these teachers qualified in.
National Curriculum Tests
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made in the pilots in schools trialling new ways to assess, report and stimulate progress throughout the key stages; and if he will make a statement. [247232]
Jim Knight: The Making Good Progress pilot is a two year pilot, due to run until July 2009. It is being independently evaluated by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The interim report on the first year of the pilot was published on the 18 December 2009 and a copy was sent to the chairman of the Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families. A copy will be placed in both Libraries.
A final evaluation report which will make an assessment about the effectiveness of the pilot and its elements over the full two years is due to be published in the autumn of 2009.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what percentage of 11 year olds achieved level 4 or above in (a) English and (b) mathematics in 2008; [247471]
(2) what percentage of 14 year olds achieved level 5 or above in (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) ICT in 2008. [247472]
Jim Knight: The percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above in the KS2 English and mathematics tests in 2008 are:
English: 81 per cent.
Mathematics: 78 per cent.
These figures are based on provisional data.
The Department's key stage 2 provisional tests results for 2007-08 were published on 5 August 2008 and can be found at:
The percentage of pupils achieving level 5 or above in the KS3 English and mathematics tests in 2008 are:
English: 73 per cent.
Mathematics: 77 per cent.
The Department's key stage 3 provisional tests results for 2007-08 were published on 12 August 2008 and can be found at:
Key stage 3 ICT results are based only on teacher assessments. The 2008 key stage 3 teacher assessments data, including ICT, will be published in February 2009.
However, compulsory testing of pupils at key stage 3 has been ended.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, stated, on 16 December, Official Report, column1002, that he had decided not to proceed with collating and publishing key stage 3 performance tables at the school-level for 2008, as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on secondary schools when we are no longer proceeding with KS3 tests.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in how many schools less than 50 per cent. of pupils achieved level 5 or above in (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) science in 2008. [247473]
Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, announced on 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 673, that secondary schools will no longer be required to enter pupils for national tests at the end of key stage 3.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, stated, on 16 December, Official Report, column 1002, that he had decided not to proceed with collating and publishing the key stage 3 achievement and attainment tables for 2008 as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on secondary schools in the light of the decision to abandon national tests at the end of key stage 3.
However, key stage 3 school-level test data will be available from the Department on request once we have completed processing the data. Currently, we expect this to be in March 2009.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what date he expects primary schools to receive the results of the 2009 national tests; and if he will make a statement. [249438]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for the administration of the key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests. QCA advise that marked scripts and results will be returned to schools by 7 July 2009.
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