Pupils: Assessments
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) net and (b) average spend was of schools in the maintained sector on Key Stage Four examinations in academic year (i) 1999-2000 and (ii) 2010-11; and what proportion of the total budget of such schools this represented in each year. [88772]
Mr Gibb: The following tables set out the gross and average spend of local authority maintained secondary and special schools on examination fees for 2010-11, and what proportion of the gross expenditure of such schools this represents:
| Secondary schools | |||
| Spend (£) | Number of schools | Average school spend (£) | Percentage of gross expenditure spent on examination fees |
| Special schools | |||
| Spend (£) | Number of schools | Average school spend (£) | Percentage of gross expenditure spent on examination fees |
| Notes: 1. Figures are taken from data provided by schools in the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) collection. 2. Numbers of schools used to calculate the average spend are taken from the January 2011 School Census. This relates to the January in the second part of the financial year. No weighting has been applied to the figures. 3. Figures supplied on spend are gross figures only. | |||
The figures supplied cover spending on examination fees as outlined in the CFR guide and so only include: the costs of test and examination entry fees and any accreditation costs related to pupils, including GCSEs, A/AS Levels and administrative costs, e.g. external marking.
The figures cover all local authority maintained secondary and special schools. However, some of these schools will have incurred costs for other examinations. For example, those with sixth forms will have included costs for key stage 5 examination fees in their CFR returns. It is not possible to identify the costs for key stage 4 examination fees specifically from the data collected.
The Department did not collect figures on examination fees until 2002-03.
Pupils: Bullying
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the recent research conducted by the Schools Health Education Unit on links between bullying and appearance. [87797]
Mr Gibb: Tackling poor behaviour in all its forms—including bullying—is a top priority for this Government. Schools need to work proactively to identify the driving issues behind prejudice among their pupils and put in place measures to prevent bullying and poor behaviour fuelled by peer pressure, as well as clear processes to respond to bullying when it does occur.
The Schools and Students Health Education Unit's (SHEU) report records statistics such as the number of young people who want to lose weight, who do not eat breakfast, and who eat fewer than five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Although none of these issues are necessarily directly linked to bullying or the fear of being bullied, the research summary says that up to 22% of 10 to 11-year-olds report being picked on for the way they look. No child should feel victimised because of their appearance, or for any other reason, and where bullying occurs, schools must have robust procedures in place to respond to it quickly and effectively.
Reading: Primary Education
Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers he expects to undertake training in the reading recovery intervention in 2011-12. [86712]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 15 December 2011]: There are currently 88 reading recovery teachers in training. The number of teachers undertaking training in 2012 has not yet been confirmed.
Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what financial support his Department is providing to the national co-ordination of the reading recovery intervention. [86716]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 15 December 2011]: We are providing a modest amount of funding to support management costs for Every Child a Reader, which has reading recovery at its core. We anticipate that this will be on a sliding scale until 2014. After this period, we have stated that the programme will operate on a demand-led basis.
Residential Schools: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many young people ordinarily resident in Scotland have been accommodated in specialist educational facilities in England in each of the last five years. [88154]
Tim Loughton: The information is not held centrally by the Department.
The annual SSDA903 return collects information on children looked after by local authorities in England. Information is not collected on children looked after by Scottish local authorities, this data is collected by the
10 Jan 2012 : Column 239W
Scottish Government. These data collections are based on the local authority which is responsible for the child irrespective of the country of the child's placement.
Some of the Scottish children in English educational facilities will be placed for education purposes, rather than be looked after and any information we hold about "ordinary residence" will be based on English law.
School Meals: Academies
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what steps he plans to take in cases where Academy schools do not meet the nutritional guidelines for school meals followed by local authority schools; [85996]
(2) what assessment he has made of the quality of the school food provided to pupils in free schools; [85997]
(3) when he expects the School Food Trust to deliver its report on school food in Academy schools; and when he plans to publish the report; [85998]
(4) what assessment he has made of the changes in school food provision in schools which have converted to Academy status since May 2010. [86003]
Sarah Teather: We are confident that academies will recognise the importance of good nutrition to children's learning and will wish to provide healthy school food for their pupils. Where parents are not satisfied that they do so, they may complain through the normal complaints procedure which is publicised locally. Schools which have converted to become academies will already have been providing healthy, balanced meals that meet the current standards. I have no reason to believe that they would stop doing so on conversion. The Department is not aware of any evidence suggesting that academies provide meals that are less nutritious than those provided in maintained schools.
The Department has not yet made an assessment of the quality of the food provided to pupils in free schools. In order to assess the changes in school food provision in schools which have converted to academy status, the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has asked the School Food Trust to undertake a qualitative study to look at
10 Jan 2012 : Column 240W
the approach taken by academies to providing healthy school food. This will occur in January and February 2012, with the results expected to be published in spring 2012.
Schools: Admissions
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for each local authority area, what proportion of places at maintained primary schools are at (a) non-denominational schools, (b) Church of England schools, (c) Catholic schools, (d) other Christian denomination schools, (e) Jewish schools, (f) Muslim schools and (g) any other denominational or faith schools. [75365]
Mr Gibb: I would draw my hon. Friend's attention to Table 10g of the Statistical First Release: Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2011, which is available on the Department for Education's website. This was originally published on 22 June 2011, with an updated release published on 16 August 2011. This table has been enhanced by including an additional column 'proportion of pupils'.
The original full Statistical First Release can be found at ‘DfE: Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2011’.
Schools: Expenditure
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of average expenditure by schools on text books and other teaching material; and what assessment he has made of (a) recent and (b) long-term trends in such expenditure. [88183]
Mr Gibb: The Department does not collect expenditure on text books and teaching materials specifically, but through the Section 251 Outturn data collection, we can identify the amount spent on educational resources (non-ICT equipment), which includes expenditure on text books and teaching materials. The following table shows the expenditure for three sectors of local authority maintained schools: primary, secondary and special and their respective levels of spend from 2003-04 to 2010-11.
| Primary schools | Secondary schools | Special schools | |||||||
| Schools (No) | Spend on educational resources (£) | Average school spend (£) | Schools (No) | Spend on educational resources (£) | Average school spend (£) | Schools (No) | Spend on educational resources (£) | Average school spend (£) | |
| Notes 1. Figures for 2002-03 to 2009-10 are taken from data provided by LAs in the s251 Outturn collection. The scope of this collection covers LA ‘maintained’ primary, secondary and special schools. 2. Figures for 2010-11 are taken from data provided by schools in the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) collection. The figures include data from LA ‘maintained’ primary, secondary and special schools. 3. Number of schools used to calculate the average spend are taken from the January school census. This relates to the January in the second part of the financial year. No weighting has been applied to the figures. 4. Figures supplied on spend are gross figures only. | |||||||||
10 Jan 2012 : Column 241W
The figures supplied cover spending on learning resources (non-ICT equipment) as outlined in the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) guide and so include:
achievement gifts and prizes awarded to pupils,
books (library and text books),
charges for the school library,
classroom and learning equipment (excluding ICT equipment),
curriculum transport, including minibus expenses such as maintenance, tax, fuel (excludes insurance),
furniture used for teaching purposes,
pupil travel for work experience placements,
purchase, lease, hire or maintenance contracts of audio-visual or other equipment used for teaching,
reprographic resources and equipment used specifically for teaching purposes,
school trips and educational visits,
servicing and repairs to musical instruments and PE equipment used as part of the curriculum,
subscriptions, publications, periodicals and copyright fees associated with the curriculum,
teaching materials,
television licence fees used for teaching purposes,
payments to alternative provision services, including pupil referral units (PRUs), non-maintained special schools (NMSS) and independent schools,
primary school PIP exam costs.
It is not possible to identify the costs for text books and other teaching material specifically from the data collected.
The expenditure figures for 2010-11 are taken from the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) collection because the Section 251 data (S251) is still undergoing final data cleaning. The CFR is a school-based expenditure data collection whereas the S251 is a return made by local authorities on all its maintained schools but includes the same CFR codes.
Schools: Olympic Games 2012
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what correspondence his Department has issued to (a) the Scottish Government, (b) the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, (c) Scottish colleges and (d) local authorities in Scotland on the operation in Scotland of the Get Set networks for schools. [88116]
Tim Loughton: The Department for Education has responsibility for schools in England. Scottish Schools are the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has developed the official London 2012 'Get Set' education programme, which is free for schools and colleges to join. LOCOG has contacted all eligible schools across Scotland regularly since the programme was launched in 2008. This contact has increased over the last few months to promote applications for the Get Set Network, the reward and recognition programme for schools that embrace Olympic/Paralympic values in their activity.
LOCOG has worked closely with the Scottish Government and Learning Teaching Scotland to promote the scheme. LOCOG has written to all Scottish Local Education Authorities, and spoken at numerous key
10 Jan 2012 : Column 242W
Scottish education conferences and events including the Scottish Learning Festival. I have recently written to all MPs across Scotland to encourage schools to sign up.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools (a) in each local authority area in Scotland and (b) in Glasgow North constituency have joined his Department's Get Set network. [88117]
Tim Loughton: The Get Set Programme, and the Get Set Network, are not run by the Department for Education, but by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). LOCOG publishes data on schools and colleges that have signed up both to the Get Set Programme and Get Set Network at:
www.london2012.com/getset
This is updated each week, and includes schools and colleges across Scotland and in each local authority, as well as listing individual schools and colleges. The scheme does not operate on a political constituency basis.
Schools: Sports
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps the Government is taking to improve the provision of sport within schools in Coventry. [87648]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 20 December 2011]: As part of the review of the National Curriculum, Physical Education (PE) will remain compulsory for all pupils aged 5 to 16 across the country. The revised programme of study for PE will have a greater focus on competitive sport than previously.
All secondary schools in England with at least 20 secondary aged pupils, including 27 schools in Coventry, will receive £7,600 each year in 2011/12 and 2012/13 to releases PE teacher from timetable for one day every week. This teacher will work with local schools, including primary schools, to increase opportunities in competitive sport within and between schools.
In addition, the Department of Health and Sport England are funding 450 School Games Organiser posts across the country. These organisers work for three days a week and they will encourage greater take up of the School Games and increase opportunities in competitive sport within and between schools. There are two School Games Organisers covering schools in Coventry.
Schools: Standards
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education following his decision to prioritise funding for pre-16 education and to re-distribute resources to areas of deprivation, how he will ensure standards are maintained in existing high quality post-16 education providers. [87761]
Mr Gibb: We are making record amounts of funding available for 16 to 19 education—over £7.5 billion in 2012-13. This is on top of a significant increase in 16 to 19 funding in recent years.
We want young people to reach the end of key stage 4 with the skills and knowledge that enable them to progress to more advanced education or training and equip them to compete in the labour market. The best
10 Jan 2012 : Column 243W
determinant of achievement post-16 is achievement pre-16. That is why we have prioritised funding on pre-16.
We have made unit cost reductions in post-16 education and training in two ways:
by bringing the school funding rate down to that of colleges; and
by reducing funding for enrichment activities.
We are protecting the main education programmes post-16 and young people can be funded for a programme of 4.5 A levels or their equivalent, if they are able to undertake such a programme—and this position has not changed. We have also protected, as far as possible, funding for tutorial provision.
Schools: Transport
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many representations he has received on withdrawals of discretionary school transport subsidies by local authorities. [87337]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 19 December 2011]: Department for Education officials have received a number of informal notifications regarding local decisions or plans to withdraw funding for discretionary transport and the issue has been raised in the margins of other discussions with Ministers. To-date, there has been no formal requests for Ministers to take any further action.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what estimate he has made of the total expenditure by his Department on discretionary school transport subsidies in each of the last three years for which figures are available; [87451]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of children who have benefited from discretionary subsidies for home to school transport in the last three years for which figures are available. [87507]
Tim Loughton: [holding answer 19 December 2011]: Funding for home to school transport is provided by a combination of Revenue Support Grant paid via the Department for Communities and Local Government and locally collected taxes. Local authorities provide forecast and outturn data (which includes an element of home to school transport) through section 251 statements. The data, for home to school transport purposes, are split between mainstream, SEN and post-16 data but do not sub-divide to individual types of school transport. The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), allocated £85 million to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duty in respect of extended rights to travel for 2011-12 and 2012-13.
We do not collect data from local authorities on the numbers of children in receipt of discretionary transport as it is for local authorities to use their discretionary power in deciding whether transport for a child not eligible for free transport is appropriate. Nor does the Department collect data on the numbers of representations received on individual areas of home to school transport.
Daniel Kawczynski:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding he plans to provide for students in sparsely populated rural areas to meet
10 Jan 2012 : Column 244W
additional transport costs; and if he will refer to higher unit costs in scale and technologies required to educate learners in his report following completion of his 16 to 19 funding consultation. [87696]
Mr Gibb: Local authorities have a duty to publish a statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people of sixth form age to attend post-16 education.
The £180 million 16-19 Bursary Fund, which sits alongside the local authority duty, has the flexibility to help students meet individual transport costs.
The recent consultation on the 16-19 funding formula review included options to simplify the system of weightings for programme funding without losing the principle that funding should reflect the cost of programmes that are more expensive to provide. The 16 to 19 participation budget does not cover transport costs and that will not change as a result of introducing a new 16 to 19 funding formula.
Teachers
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many new teachers in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools he expects to retire in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014. [86732]
Mr Gibb: The following table provides the headcount of regular teachers in local authority maintained primary and secondary schools by ages 51 to 59 and 60+ in service in publicly funded schools in England, November 2010. These figures show the total number of teachers who may be eligible to retire in the near future at the normal retirement age or by following processes for early retirement. It is not possible to identify which of these teachers are new teachers.
| Headcount of all regular qualified and unqualified teachers in local authority maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools and age (1) . Year: November 2010. Coverage: England | |||
| Age (2) | Nursery and primary | Secondary | Total nursery/primary and secondary schools |
| (1) Includes all full- and part-time teachers with a contract of 28 days or more on the census date, November 2010. (2) Age on the census date, November 2010. Source: School Workforce Census | |||
10 Jan 2012 : Column 245W
Teachers: Disciplinary Proceedings
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers were (a) suspended from schools as a result of allegations by pupils and (b) subsequently permanently removed from their position in each of the last 10 years. [87070]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 19 December 2011]: The Department does not hold records of school level disciplinary action (including suspensions and sackings).
The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) currently administers the regulatory system for teachers who have been dismissed by their schools for reasons of incompetence or misconduct. From 2001 to present day a total of 208 teachers have been suspended by the GTCE due to misconduct and 14 for incompetence. It is not possible to ascertain from GTCE records, whether those suspended from teaching were suspended as a result of allegations from pupils.
Figures for each year are set out in the following table.
| Number of teachers suspended by the GTCE since 2001 | |
| Total | |
10 Jan 2012 : Column 246W
| Source: General Teaching Council for England | |
Teachers: Qualifications
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in England in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of them went on to jobs teaching in England. [87113]
Mr Gibb: In the 2009/10 academic year, 22,410 trainees undertook the final year of a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in England. Six months after the course ended 81% were known to be employed in a teaching post in England.
By sector, this 81% was comprised of 70% known to be employed in a teaching post in the maintained school sector; 6% known to be in a teaching post in the non-maintained sector and 5% where the sector was not known.
Teachers: Scholarships
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers were awarded funding from the National Scholarship Fund for Teachers in (a) the South East, (b) Berkshire, (c) Reading and (d) Reading West constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the value was of such funding. [87236]
Mr Gibb: The £2 million National Scholarship Fund for teachers was set up to help existing teachers in England develop their skills and to help them deepen their subject knowledge. The first round of successful bids was announced on 12 December 2011.
The number of teachers awarded scholarships and the total value of these awards in each constituency was:
| Applicants | £ | |
There were no successful applicants who live in Reading West.
10 Jan 2012 : Column 247W
Women's Rights: Curriculum
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the provision of teaching of women's rights and gender equality in the National Curriculum. [84256]
Mr Gibb: No assessment has been made of the provision of teaching of women's rights and gender equality in the National Curriculum. These topics can be taught as part of citizenship education, which is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in secondary schools. They can also be taught as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which is non-statutory.
We are currently conducting reviews of the National Curriculum and of PSHE. The National Curriculum review aims to reduce prescription and focuses on the essential knowledge that all children should acquire. The internal review of PSHE education will determine the core content and how to improve the quality of all PSHE teaching. Beyond that, it should be for individual schools to design a whole school curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils.
Young People: Sports
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to increase opportunities for young people in Coventry aged (a) seven to 12 and (b) 13 to 18 years old to play sport. [87647]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 20 December 2011]: As part of the review of the National Curriculum, Physical Education (PE) will remain compulsory for all pupils aged five to 16 across the country. The revised programme of study for PE will have a greater focus on competitive sport than previously.
In addition, all secondary schools in England with at least 20 secondary aged pupils, including 27 schools in Coventry, will receive £7,600 each year in 2011/12 and 2012/13 to release a PE teacher from timetable for one day every week. This teacher will work with local schools, including primary schools, to increase opportunities in competitive sport within and between schools.
Young People: Training
Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria will be used to determine eligibility for the proposed fund to increase the participation of young people in education, training and work. [87735]
10 Jan 2012 : Column 248W
Tim Loughton [holding answer 20 December 2011]: On 25 November 2011, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a new Youth Contract worth almost £1 billion over the next three years. As part of this, we will invest £126 million in England to put in place a new programme of support to help vulnerable 16 to 17-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training.
This programme will focus on disadvantaged young people who are more likely to face multiple challenges, which might include having low qualifications, a history of truancy or having been excluded from school.
We are currently developing the detail of this programme, including the target group, and will publish further information in due course.
Young People: Unemployment
Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which organisation he proposes will be responsible for (a) collecting and (b) monitoring information on the number of young people not in education, employment or training from 2012. [86164]
Tim Loughton: Estimates of the number of 16-18 year olds in England who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) are published annually in June by the Department for Education in the statistical first release "Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 year olds in England". Quarterly data from the Labour Force Survey on the number and proportion of 16-18 year olds, and 16-24 year olds, NEET in England are published by the Department in the statistical release “NEET Quarterly Brief”.
Local authorities are responsible for tracking young people's participation in education, training and employment and for recording this information for 16-19 year olds resident in their authority. This forms a part of their statutory duty to encourage, enable and assist young people's participation in education or training.
The Department will continue to publish the information that local authorities collect, enabling local people to hold services to account.