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23 Jan 2006 : Column 1908W—continued
Education White Paper
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations her Department has received (a) in favour of and (b) opposed to the proposals in the recent White Paper on Schools. [44483]
Jacqui Smith:
The Department has received at least 211 representations from a wide range of organisations, Members of Parliament and members of the public which directly refer to the White Paper. These representations contain a variety of opinions both supporting certain proposals within the context of the White Paper and opposing elements of it.
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Enterprise and Entrepreneurism Training
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to expand the teaching of enterprise and entrepreneurism in schools in Hartlepool; and if she will make a statement. [42983]
Jacqui Smith: The Department has allocated £60 million a year for the three academic years from September 2005 to support a new focus on enterprise education in all secondary schools in England. St. Hild's Church of England School in Hartlepool was among the 700 schools which participated in our Enterprise Education Pathfinder programme that looked at various ways of delivering enterprise education and helped to produce our national guidance on enterprise education. The Guidance is available at www.teachernet.gov.uk/enterpriseeducation to support other schools in developing and improving their own practice.
In addition, statutory Citizenship education in secondary schools and the non-statutory framework for Personal, Social and Health Education also provide opportunities to develop pupils' enterprise capability—including personal financial capability as well as business understanding, innovation, creativity, risk-management and risk-taking.
First Aid
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what level of basic instruction in first aid is required to be given to pupils in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools; and if she will make a statement. [43922]
Jacqui Smith: There is scope in the Personal Social and Health Education framework for schools to explore safety and emergency procedures as part of the curriculum. At Key Stages 2 and 3, the framework suggests pupils should be taught basic emergency aid procedures and where to get help and support. At Key Stage 4 pupils should be taught to develop skills to cope with emergency situations that require basic aid procedures, including resuscitation techniques.
Examinations (Cheating)
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if she will list cases in the last three years in which the (a) regulatory authorities and (b) qualification awarding bodies have determined there was malpractice, cheating or assisting in cheating in examinations or coursework leading to a qualification; which educational establishment was involved in each case; and what sanction was applied in each case; [42682]
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(2) if she will list the educational establishments adjudged to have been complicit in cheating or assisting in cheating in examinations or coursework leading to a qualification in the last five years. [43525]
Jacqui Smith: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, regulator for qualifications in England, published for the first time in March 2005 total figures for the number of GCSE and A level confirmed malpractice cases dealt with by AQA, Edexcel, and OCR during the summer 2004 exams series. These figures are as follows:
| Candidate malpractice cases | |
|---|---|
| AQA | 1,608 |
| Edexcel | 847 |
| OCR | 1,118 |
Note:
These figures are for the number of cases of candidate malpractice rather than the number of candidates.
The QCA are intending to publish in late March 2006, similar data at a greater level of detail, broken down by category of offence, for the summer 2005 exams series. Those figures are still being verified.
Further details of the cases set out aforementioned are not readily available and could be obtained from the awarding bodies only at disproportionate cost.
Foundation Schools
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2736W, on foundation schools, when she expects this analysis to be completed. [42191]
Jacqui Smith: My Department is continuing its analysis of this issue. We will publish our findings as soon as the work is complete.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications were made for foundation school status in each year since September 1999; and how many of these applications were granted. [42287]
Jacqui Smith: The governing body of a school wishing to change category to foundation must consult and publish statutory proposals. Since August 2005, the governing bodies of community and voluntary controlled secondary schools have been able to decide their own proposals to change category to foundation. Otherwise, proposals are decided by the School Organisation Committee or Schools Adjudicator.
The following table sets out the numbers of statutory proposals published to change the category of existing schools to foundation, together with the decisions, since 2001.
| Primary | Secondary | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication year | Approved | Rejected | Awaiting Decision | Approved | Rejected | Awaiting Decision | Total |
| 2001 | 6 | 1 | — | 9 | — | — | 16 |
| 2002 | 4 | — | — | 7 | 1 | — | 12 |
| 2003 | 3 | — | — | 3 | — | — | 6 |
| 2004 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | 4 |
| 2005 | 1 | — | — | 6 | — | 4 | 11 |
| 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 15 | 1 | — | 27 | 2 | 6 | 51 |
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Following the introduction of the new schools framework in September 1999, schools were prohibited from publishing proposals to change category for one year (except where the governing body of a voluntary aided school were unable to meet their financial obligations). No proposals were published in 2000 after the end of this embargo.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools had foundation school status in each year since 1999. [42288]
Jacqui Smith: The following table details the numbers of primary and secondary foundation schools each year since 1999:
| Primary | Secondary | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 359 | 500 | 859 |
| 2000 | 359 | 500 | 859 |
| 2001 | 357 | 497 | 854 |
| 2002 | 362 | 501 | 863 |
| 2003 | 365 | 510 | 875 |
| 2004 | 364 | 514 | 878 |
| 2005 | 366 | 513 | 879 |
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The 1999 figures reflect the position at 1 September 1999 following the introduction of the new schools framework, and subsequent figures have been derived from annual schools census returns made by schools to the Department in January each year.
Free School Meals
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in each school in Bristol, East constituency receive free school meals. [42976]
Jacqui Smith: Two sets of figures relating to the number and proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals are given here. The first includes all pupils in the school, regardless of their age. The second includes full-time pupils aged up to (and including) 15 and part-time pupils aged 5 to 15 (inclusive). This second coverage is as used in the Pupil Achievement Tracker and Ofsted's PANDA reports and provides consistent school level comparisons.
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n/a = not applicable
1 Includes pupils with sole and dual registration of all ages.
(87) Includes pupils with sole and dual registration who are full-time and aged 0 to 15 (inclusive) and those who are part-time and aged 5 to 15 (inclusive).
(88) Number of pupils who took a free school meal on the day of the census in January.
Source:
Annual Schools Census
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