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29 Nov 2010 : Column 522W—continued
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether he has made an estimate of the proportion of students who attained A to C grades overall in A-levels in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010 who had not re-sat any examination; [24625]
(2) how many students re-sat (a) AS and (b) A2 examinations in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010; [24626]
(3) whether he has made an estimate of the number of students who re-sat (a) AS and (b) A2 examinations in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010 who attained a mark higher than their original grade; [24627]
(4) whether he has made an estimate of the proportion of students who attained A to C grades overall in
A-levels in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010 who had re-sat (i) one and (ii) more than one AS examination; [24674]
(5) what proportion of students attaining A grades overall in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010 re-sat (i) no examinations, (ii) one A2 examination, (iii) more than one A2 examination, (iv) one AS examination and (v) more than one AS examination; [24676]
(6) how many students who re-sat more than one (a) AS and (b) A2 examination in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010 achieved a mark higher than that of their original grade; [24677]
(7) how many students who sat (a) AS and (b) A2 examinations in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010 attained higher grades overall as a result of re-sitting examinations. [24678]
Mr Gibb: The information can currently be provided only at disproportionate cost. However we are interested in how re-sitting affects results and will be looking to assess the impact of recent changes which have reduced the number of units for most A and AS levels.
Music: Finance
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in his Department's funding of the Music Standards Fund on the core grant for (a) the Bromley Youth Music Trust and (b) other independent music councils. [20389]
Mr Gibb: The Secretary of State's recent announcement of changes to the Music Standards Fund is about the route by which local authorities currently receive funding for music, not about the funding itself.
The review that Darren Henley has been asked to carry out will make recommendations on any new route by which that funding will be made available. Following the spending review the Government have protected frontline spending on schools so that we can ensure that investment reaches schools directly. We have signalled that we will be cutting back on centrally funded programmes but no decisions have yet been made on the level of funding that will be made available specifically for music education.
New Schools Network
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) for what reasons he decided not to put the contract eventually awarded to the New Schools Network out to competitive tender; [24813]
(2) for what reasons he decided not to develop a formal funding agreement with the New Schools Network in respect of the services it has been contracted to provide; [24814]
(3) whether he had discussions with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the decisions to (a) award a contract to the New Schools Network without competitive tendering and (b) not to develop a formal funding agreement with the New Schools Network following the award of that contract; [24815]
(4) if he will assess the level of independence of the New Schools Network in respect of its delivery of the services he has contracted it to provide. [24816]
Mr Gibb: The formal grant agreement (not a contract) with New Schools Network (NSN), an independent charity, was signed on 8 November 2010. It contains appropriate clauses regarding conflicts of interest, performance indicators and the provision of information among others, as is usual practice.
The Department considered carefully the options for securing the requisite services from an external organisation. Given the need for specialist skills and experience to be in place quickly, it was decided to award a time-limited grant to NSN. In doing so the Department took account of the UK Public Procurement Regulations 2006 and the Compact Commissioning Guidance. There have not been any discussions with the Cabinet Office relating to this award.
NSN has championed the development of parent and teacher promoted schools and has been providing advice and support to those interested in establishing new schools since 2009. It has also been developing networks among interested groups and individuals. This experience makes it ideally placed to fulfil the role. The Department has given similar grants in the past, such as to the NSPCC, the Holocaust Education Trust, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the Youth Sport Trust.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2010, Official Report, column 920W, on the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010, if he will place in the Library a copy of each document on each file on Clauses 11 to 14 that relate to (a) sex education and (b) general PSHE policy; and if he will make a statement. [23713]
Mr Gibb: Clauses 11 to 14 of the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 relate to:
11. Restriction on publication of information relating to family proceedings
12. Authorised publication of court orders and judgments
13. Authorised news publications
14. Permitting publication for purposes of section 13; general
None of these clauses refer to sex education or general PSHE policy.
Primary Education
Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to improve Key Stage 1 results. [26386]
Mr Gibb: Too many young children are not achieving the standards expected in early literacy and numeracy. In order to raise standards we will provide the resources to support the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics; introduce a new year 1 phonics screening check to confirm whether children have acquired the basics of phonic decoding and identify those needing additional support; and, as part of the review of the National Curriculum, make sure that children are able to grasp the core arithmetical functions by the time they leave primary school. We are also introducing a pupil premium to provide extra funding for those schools with the most challenging intakes.
Further details of these and additional reforms to improve standards are set out in The Importance of Teaching, Schools White Paper which was published on 24 November 2010.
Primary Education: Curriculum
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the remit of his Department's review of the national curriculum in primary schools includes a review of the use of a cross-curricular teaching approach; what recent representations he has received opposing any prohibition on a cross-curricular approach; and if he will made a statement. [23730]
Mr Gibb: We will be announcing detailed plans for a review of the national curriculum before the end of the year. There are no plans, however, to review the use of a cross-curricular teaching approach.
It is not the role of the national curriculum to prescribe how teachers should teach or how schools should organise their curriculum. We intend to give schools greater freedom over the curriculum by focusing the national curriculum on core knowledge and understanding in subject disciplines, whilst allowing schools to decide how best to teach and organise their curriculum to ensure that children acquire that knowledge and understanding.
We have received no recent representations opposing any prohibition on a cross-curricular approach.
Pupils: Bullying
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to promote anti-bullying week; and if he will make a statement. [24866]
Mr Gibb: The annual anti-bullying week presents a unique opportunity to focus the nation's attention on bullying issues and how to tackle it. During this year's anti-bullying week, the coalition Government are sending key messages to schools, young people and anti-bullying organisations regarding our commitment to tackling all forms of bullying through different mediums.
On 12 November 2010 I did an interview with the BBC in conjunction with Beatbullying on how to address bullying in schools. On 17 November 2010, the Deputy Prime Minster met a delegation from Beatbullying, receiving their petition on behalf of the Government. He also published a video message on YouTube to reinforce the importance of tackling homophobic bullying in schools and the wider society. On the same day, the Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friendthe Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) addressed the Anti-Bullying Alliance youth summit on behalf of the Government.
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on reducing the levels of bullying in schools; what response his Department provided; and if he will make a statement. [24884]
Mr Gibb:
The Government are committed to tackling all forms of bullying and want schools to take a zero-tolerance approach to tackling bullying in and outside the school. Anti-bullying organisations play an invaluable
role in supporting schools to develop their approaches to tackling bullying, and supporting the victims of bullying.
On Tuesday 9 November I met with eight organisations that have an interest in tackling bullying, to discuss the coalition Government's approach to tackling bullying and to draw on their expertise and experience. They were the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Diana Award, Schools Out, Council for Disabled Children, Mencap, Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH), Stonewall and Beatbullying. At the end of the meeting, I asked them to send me their ideas on how together we can support schools in tackling bullying.
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his proposed pupil premium payment will be paid to schools in addition to any funding already allocated to a pupil with a statement of special educational need. [22919]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 9 November 2010]: The pupil premium will be based on figures from the previous January school census for relevant pupils in years from reception to year 11, irrespective of whether they have a statement or not. The grant will be paid to local authorities and they will be required to pass the premium on in its entirety to maintained mainstream schools.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how his proposed pupil premium will apply in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [23611]
Mr Gibb: The pupil premium will operate in all areas of the country, including rural areas. We are considering the responses to the consultation on school funding which ended on 18 October, including the question of which deprivation indicator to use. Once we have selected a deprivation indicator it will be the same across the country.
Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils in Bournemouth West constituency are expected to receive the pupil premium in the next 12 months. [23708]
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of children in (a) South Thanet constituency and (b) England who will receive the proposed pupil premium. [24598]
Mr Gibb: We are considering the responses to the consultation on school funding which ended on 18 October, including the question of which deprivation indicator to use. The number of children eligible, either in a constituency or in England as a whole, will depend on this decision.
Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of his proposed pupil premium on children in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (b) England. [23962]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 15 November 2010]: We are considering the responses to the consultation on school funding which ended on 18 October, including the question of which deprivation indicator to use. The number of children eligible, either in a constituency or in England as a whole, will depend on this decision.
Laura Sandys:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of educational
attainment by pupils eligible for free school meals in (a) South Thanet constituency and (b) England. [24588]
Mr Gibb: The latest available information for the 2008/09 academic year is provided in the following tables. The information for the 2009/10 academic year will be available after the publication of the Key Stage 2 and GCSE and Equivalent Attainment by Pupil Characteristics Statistical First Releases in December.
| Percentage of pupils( 1,2) achieving the expected level in English and Maths, and Reading, Writing and Maths, at Key Stage 2 in 2008/09( 3) | ||||
| Pupils eligible for free school meals | Pupils not eligible for free school meals | |||
| Percentage achieving the expected level in English and Mathematics | Percentage achieving the expected level in Reading, Writing and Mathematics | Percentage achieving the expected level in English and Mathematics | Percentage achieving the expected level in Reading, Writing and Mathematics | |
| (1) Includes pupils attending maintained schools including CTCs and academies. (2) Overseas pupils are excluded from the parliamentary constituency figures. They are however included in the national figures. (3) Data are final. Source: National Pupil Database | ||||
| Percentage of pupils( 1,2) achieving 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent, and 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and Maths GCSEs, 2008/09( 3) | ||||
| Pupils eligible for free school meals | Pupils not eligible for free school meals | |||
| Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades including English and Maths | Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades | Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C grades including English and Maths | |
| (1) Includes pupils attending maintained schools including CTCs and academies. (2) Overseas pupils are excluded from the parliamentary constituency figures. They are however included in the national figures. (3) Data are final. Source: National Pupil Database | ||||
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the effects of his proposed pupil premium in (a) South Thanet constituency and (b) England. [24595]
Mr Gibb: We have made no assessment of the effect of the pupil premium in specific constituencies. We are considering the responses to the consultation on school funding which ended on 18 October, including the question of which deprivation indicator to use. We expect the effect of introducing the pupil premium across England to be one of raising the attainment of those children who are eligible for it.
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what indicators of deprivation apart from free school meals his Department uses to measure levels of deprivation for school children; and what the level of deprivation for school children in (a) Hastings and Rye constituency, (b) East Sussex and (c) England is according to each of those indicators. [25274]
Mr Gibb: The Department for Education uses the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index 2007 (IDACI) to measure levels of deprivation alongside the information the Department collects about free school meal eligibility.
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of RAISEonline as an indicator of deprivation; and whether he plans to adopt this mechanism to allocate funds through the pupil premium. [25278]
Mr Gibb: RAISEonline is an interactive web-based database used by schools to support their school self evaluation-it is a system rather than an indicator. It does hold some data on pupil characteristics including eligibility for FSM which is one of the options being considered as a deprivation indicator.
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what indicators of deprivation he is considering for use as the mechanism for allocating funds through the pupil premium. [25279]
Mr Gibb: The indicators of deprivation being considered are those set out in the 'Consultation on school funding 2011-12: Introducing a pupil premium'. They are free school meal eligibility-which could be current eligibility or a measure of whether a pupil is currently or has been eligible for FSM; tax credit indicator-pupils in families in receipt of out of work tax credit; and Mosaic or Acorn-commercial packages based on classifications of postcodes.
Pupils: Electoral Register
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to take steps to ensure that schools assist all eligible pupils to register to vote. [24077]
Mr Gibb: The Government are keen to promote opportunities for young people to participate in politics, but we have no plans to do this via schools. We are committed to reducing bureaucracy in schools to allow them to concentrate on their core business, which is to raise standards of attainment. Electoral registration officers (EROs) are under a statutory duty to compile and maintain comprehensive and accurate electoral registers. Information about registering to vote is available locally through local authority websites and on the Electoral Commission website at:
Pupils: Equality
Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to reduce the difference between the attainment levels of boys and girls in schools. [25289]
Mr Gibb: We are committed to raising the attainment of all pupils in schools, regardless of their gender, ethnicity and special educational needs.
We know that boys in particular seem to experience problems with reading and writing and subjects that depend most heavily on those skills. Our emphasis on early mastery of the basics, including through systematic synthetic phonics teaching, will give all children a firm foundation on which to build their future learning and should particularly benefit boys who are struggling.
Pupils: Health
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health on the preparation of guidance for schools that clarifies expectations and statutory responsibilities, including the roles and responsibilities of key staff members, on the management by schools of long-term health conditions, such as asthma. [25055]
Mr Gibb: The Departments of Health and Education are working together to produce concise guidance about the management by schools of long-term health conditions, such as asthma. This aims to clarify expectations and statutory responsibilities, and to provide a clear explanation of the roles and responsibilities of key staff members. It will replace the existing guidance: "Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Year Settings", which was published jointly by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills in 2005.
Resits: Free School Meals
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost to the public purse was of re-sit examinations in the academic year 2009-10; and whether he made an estimate of the number of students eligible for free school meals who re-sat examinations in that year. [24675]
Mr Gibb: The Department does not collect this information. Decisions on re-taking examinations are taken at school level, on academic grounds, by teachers, pupils, and their parents or carers.
Schools
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will issue guidance to schools on his priorities for the state sector. [22278]
Mr Gibb:
The Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, published on 24 November, sets out our plans to raise educational standards to the levels of the best performing countries and narrow the attainment
gap between pupils from rich and poor backgrounds. An Education Bill will follow to introduce the legislation needed to make the vision set out in the White Paper a reality. The Government trust head teachers and want to give schools the freedom and flexibility to make the right decisions to deliver high quality education to all children and young people. This means freeing schools from excessive central prescription and significantly reducing the amount of guidance and advice given to schools. We are currently reviewing the thousands of pages of guidance issued to schools and will remove any unnecessary documents. We will also significantly strip back and consolidate what remains into a small number of clear, readable and useful guides on key issues.
Schools: Capital Investment
Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding excluding funding previously allocated to the Building Schools for the Future programme he plans to allocate to rebuilding or refurbishing (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in (i) England, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) Coventry in each of the next five years. [22785]
Mr Gibb: Decisions about future capital funding including funding for primary and secondary schools will be determined in the light of the capital review announced by the Secretary of State on 5 July. The capital review team will complete its work by the end of the calendar year.
In the spending review announcement on 20 October 2010, the Chancellor announced that DfE capital spending will be:
| £ billion | |
Schools: Hearing Impairment
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that deaf children are able to receive high-quality teaching in British sign language in mainstream schools; [21148]
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure access to appropriate learning resources for deaf children attending mainstream schools; [21149]
(3) what recent representations he has received on the quality and availability of educational support and resources for deaf children. [21150]
Sarah Teather: High quality teaching is the cornerstone to improving the educational outcomes for all children. The Government currently sponsor the I Sign project-a three-year pilot led by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and the National Deaf Children's Society-which supports our position of giving parents greater choice by putting in place the British Sign Language (BSL) skills infrastructure necessary to make BSL a viable option for families.
Through investment in BSL courses for interpreters and tutors and the development of a new Level 3 Certificate in Learning Support (Communication Support Worker), the I Sign pilot aims to help improve the educational attainment of deaf and hearing impaired pupils by increasing the BSL skills of the workforce for ail those who work with deaf children and families, including those in mainstream settings.
Mainstream schools have a duty to use best endeavours to make the provision that a child's learning difficulties requires. We will be publishing a Green Paper on special educational needs and disabilities which will look at how to improve families' experience of the SEN system. As part of that, we will be looking at how to increase local solutions to better enable localities to develop provision that makes the best use of staff and specialist resources.
The Government value the important contribution from those organisations and individuals working to support deaf children and their families and welcome their input into how the needs of these children can best be met. The recent National Deaf Children's Society's Hands up for Help! report, as well as contributions received during the recent Green Paper call for views, will be considered in informing the development of the forthcoming Green Paper.
Schools: Sports
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to his letter of 20 October 2010 to the Youth Sport Trust, whether he plans to (a) redirect to and (b) ring-fence in school budgets the funding presently allocated to the Youth Sport Trust; what his policy is on the development of school sport; and if he will make a statement. [22098]
Mr Gibb: The grant currently allocated to the Youth Sport Trust by the previous Government funds them to work on a range of policy areas in connection with PE and sport in schools. The Department's grant funding agreement with the Trust expires at the end of March 2011. In his letter to the Youth Sport Trust of 20 October 2010, the Secretary of State explained that he had no plans to commission further work from the Youth Sport Trust in these areas. The money saved will not be fed through the Dedicated Schools Grant and further details on the Coalition Government's approach to school sport will be announced shortly.
This Government's approach to PE and school sport differs fundamentally from that of the last Government. While the network of school sport partnerships has helped schools to increase participation rates in areas targeted by the previous Government, the fact remains that the proportion of pupils playing competitive sport regularly has remained disappointingly low. Only around two in every five pupils play competitive sport regularly within their own school, and only one in five plays regularly against other schools. Through the comprehensive spending review, the Secretary of State has ensured that front line budgets for schools have been protected. The removal of centrally driven, top down programmes will mean that schools will have more flexibility to use their funding in areas which they identify as their own priorities. This includes competitive sport.
The Coalition Government will encourage more competitive sport through the creation of an Olympic-style school sport competition. Over the next year, the Department for Education will work closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to develop a model to take this forward.
Schools: Vocational Guidance
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department provided to each local authority in England for careers and Connexions services in (a) 2008-9 and (b) 2009-10 and what equivalent expenditure he expects to incur in 2010. [25141]
Mr Gibb: Connexions funding is paid to local authorities as part of the Area Based Grant (ABG). Local authorities are free to use the un-ringfenced ABG as they see fit to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their areas. The Connexions allocations for each local authority in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 are shown in the following table:
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to allocate funding to local authorities to wind up the careers and Connexions services, including for any necessary redundancy payments. [25388]
Mr Gibb: Funding allocations for the next spending review period have not yet been determined. Any changes that may be necessary in local service provision as a result of the establishment of the all-age careers service will be for local authorities to work through, involving, where appropriate, Connexions service providers. We will work with local authorities and with contracted Connexions service providers to support them over the transition period as we move to establish an all-age careers service.
Science: GCSE
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils in (a) Skipton and Ripon constituency, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England were entered for (i) chemistry, (ii) physics and (iii) biology as separate subjects at (A) GCSE and (B) A-level in each of the last five academic years. [17232]
Mr Gibb: The information requested is given in the following tables:
2010 constituency data are not available as school level data have not yet been published.
| Number and percentage of pupils in North Yorkshire who were entered for selected subjects in GCSE an d A-level for the period 2006- 10( 1) | |||||||
| Biology | Chemistry | Physics | |||||
| Qualification | Number | % (of those at end of KS4or KS5) | Number | % (of those at end of KS4or KS5) | Number | % (of those at end of KS4 or KS5) | |
| Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables (AATs) | |||||||
| Number and percentage of pupils in England (maintained sector) who were entered for selected subjects in GCSE and A-level for the period 2006-10( 1) | |||||||
| Biology | Chemistry | Physics | |||||
| Qualification | Number | % (of those at end of KS4or KS5) | Number | % (of those at end of KS4or KS5) | Number | % (of those at end of KS4 or KS5) | |
| (1) 2010 data for North Yorkshire and England are provisional. Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables (AATs). | |||||||
The GCSE figures relate to pupils at the end of key stage 4 in maintained schools only.
The A-level figures relate to students at the end of advanced level of study in maintained schools and FE colleges.
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils were entered for three separate GCSEs in physics, chemistry and biology in each local authority in 2009. [24241]
Mr Gibb: The requested information is shown in the following table.
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