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2 Feb 2010 : Column 292W—continued
Education Maintenance Allowance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students in (a) England, (b) the North East and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in further education have received education maintenance allowance in each year since the allowance was introduced. [313738]
Mr. Iain Wright: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Geoff Russell, the LSC's acting chief executive, will write to my hon. Friend for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries.
GCE A-Level
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 462W, on GCE A-level, what the threshold for disclosure is. [310372]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 12 January 2010]: In DCSF Statistical First Releases on Key Stage 5 and A levels, figures of two pupils fewer are suppressed. That convention is followed and applied for Key Stage 5 parliamentary questions.
GCE A-Level: Children in Care
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2009, Official Report, columns 914-5W, on educational attainment: children in care, for what reasons his Department does not collect information on A-level examination attempts and achievements for looked after children. [305628]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 10 December 2009 ]: Information about the A-level achievements of looked after children has never been part of any national data collection. As part of the Government's determination to improve outcomes for looked after children, the first data collection on education outcomes for looked after children of compulsory school age was published in 2001. This collected information on the educational achievements of children looked after for 12 months or more as at 30 September at key stages 1 to 3 and for GCSE and GNVQs at key stage 4. The emphasis has been on improving the educational achievement of looked after children who are of compulsory school age. Collecting data on the achievement of looked after children of compulsory school age has been key in measuring how well local authorities support the education of the children they look after and in making sure that they prioritise the importance of promoting the educational achievement of this group of children.
In recent years, we have been working on a project looking at a new data source for the attainment of looked after children, which matches child level data on looked after children from local authorities to the National Pupil Database. This source will provide us with more detailed information on the attainment of looked after children and will also give us the opportunity to extend the coverage to other groups not covered by the previous data source.
In November the Department published analysis of this new data source as experimental statistics in the release, 'Bridging Series for Outcomes for Looked After Children: Comparison of Data from Matched Administrative Source with Current Aggregate Source':
The Bridging Series publication is designed to pave the way for a change in the data source for the attainment of looked after children. We will not be using the new matched data source to monitor the attainment of looked after children until 2010. These figures are published as experimental statistics and should therefore be treated with caution. They have been released to allow users to comment on the new data source and methodology before being adopted fully as official statistics.
This publication contains figures on the attainment in compulsory education only as the initial focus was to consider whether the source could be used as a replacement for the previous OC2 collection. Once we have completed consultation on this new source and adopted these figures as official statistics, we plan to explore other uses of these data, which may include attainment beyond compulsory education.
GCSE
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of students achieved five or more GCSEs at grade C or higher reckoned by (a) grades achieved in GCSE qualifications and (b) all grades achieved in GCSE qualifications and other accredited qualifications equivalent to a GCSE in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [300699]
Mr. Coaker: Prior to 1997 the Department included only achievements in full course GCSEs in the five or more GCSEs at grade C or higher measure.
| Percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades in: | ||
| GCSEs only | GCSEs and equivalents | |
| Notes: 1. Column headed GCSE only Prior to 1997 is full course GCSEs From 1997 onwards also includes GCSE short courses. From 2004 onwards also includes vocational GCSE single and double awards. 2. Column headed GCSEs and equivalents Includes everything in the GCSE only column-plus From 1997 to 2003 GNVQs are counted as equivalents. From 2004 onwards all accredited level 2 equivalents are counted as equivalents. A full list can be found here: http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk 3. Figures from 2005 onwards relate to pupils at the end of key stage 4 in all schools. Figures prior to 2005 relate to 15yearolds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in all schools. Source: Achievement and Attainment Table data | ||
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of students achieved five or more A* grades at GCSE in (a) independent and (b) comprehensive schools in (i) 2003, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2007. [304905]
Mr. Coaker: The figures requested are given in the following table:
| Number and percentage of students who achieved five or more A* grades at GCSE in selected years | ||||
| Comprehensive Schools | Independent Schools | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
The 2003 data relate to 15 year-olds at the start of the school year.
The 2005 and 2007 data relate to pupils at the end of Key Stage 4.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England did not meet the Government's target for GCSE examination passes in the latest period for which figures are available. [312226]
Mr. Coaker: The National Challenge seeks to ensure that by 2011, at least 30 per cent. of pupils in every school achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and mathematics. As listed in the achievement and attainment tables, the 2009 GCSE results show that (a) three schools in Leicester, (b) 25 schools in the East Midlands and (c) 247 schools in England were below this 30 per cent. benchmark. These results confirm that (a) one school in Leicester, (b) 22 schools in the East Midlands and (c) 207 schools in England have risen above 30 per cent. since 2008.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of students who took GCSE examinations in 2009 failed by one mark to achieve their predicted grade in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England. [312227]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Languages: Teachers
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers qualified to teach Mandarin are teaching in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special schools. [311106]
Mr. Coaker: Information on the qualifications and subjects taught of primary and special school teachers is not available.
Primary Education: Greater London
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many representations (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have received from (i) hon. Members and (ii) London boroughs on the number of primary school places in London in (A) 2008 and (B) 2009; how many (1) requests for meetings each received from and (2) meetings each had with (x) hon. Members and with (y) London boroughs on the matter; and which boroughs were involved in each case. [313452]
Mr. Coaker: There are no records from 2008 that the Secretary of State or other Ministers received representations on the number of primary school places in London or requests to discuss the matter, nor that meetings with hon. Members or with representatives of London boroughs to discuss this matter took place.
In 2009, there were two Westminster Hall debates which were relevant: on 3 March 2009, Official Report, columns 207-30WH, the hon. Member secured a debate
on "Primary School Places (London)" to which the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry), then a DCSF Minister, responded. On 20 May 2009, Official Report, columns 426-34WH, the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) secured a Westminster Hall debate on "School Places" to which my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry) also responded. There have also been references to the increase in demand for primary places in some areas in written and oral questions during 2009.
In 2009, the Secretary of State did not have any meetings with hon. Members or London borough representatives in order to discuss primary places. Other DCSF ministers had meetings with hon. Members and officers of London boroughs on four occasions where pressure on primary places in London was a main topic of discussion and on three occasions to discuss the pressure on primary places in authorities outside London. Ministers' practice is to accept requests for meetings but, without incurring disproportionate cost, it is not possible to say with certainty that no requests from hon. Members to DCSF Ministers to discuss this matter were refused. The London boroughs represented at these discussions were Kingston upon Thames, Richmond, Sutton, and Lambeth.
During 2009, there was correspondence between DCSF ministers and hon. Members, and between DCSF officials and representatives of London boroughs and other authorities in which the pressure on primary places was among the topics covered, but a separate record has not been maintained of the items of correspondence which included mentions of the topic.
In addition, DCSF officials have on many occasions since the beginning of 2009 discussed primary place pressures and how best to address them through meetings and correspondence with officers of several London boroughs and other authorities; and also with members of representative organisations including the Local Government Association, London Councils, the Association of London Directors of Children's Services and the Association of Directors of Children's Services.
Pupils: Bullying
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what evaluation has been carried out of the effectiveness of his Department's policies to reduce levels of bullying in schools. [314536]
Mr. Coaker: The Department is currently conducting research through Goldsmiths college into the effectiveness of all anti-bullying strategies used in schools and recommended by local authorities. This research will provide the necessary quantitative and qualitative data needed to draw robust conclusions about the efficacy of different anti-bullying strategies. The research will also evaluate the Department's pilot of innovative approaches to peer mentoring schemes. The Department will publish the research report in the autumn of 2010.
This research follows on from our previous evaluation conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) into the work of the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), one of the Department's key delivery partners in the field. PWC's
report published in 2007 concluded that the ABA played a crucial role in helping schools and local authorities to access the broad range of available expertise on bullying and their programme of work was broadly aligned to the Department's stated policies and priorities.
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