Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Iain Stewart and Nick Gibb

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

20. How many schools did not offer GCSE history to pupils in 2011.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Mr Nick Gibb)]

In 2011, 57 mainstream maintained secondary schools in England entered no pupils for a full course GCSE or iGCSE in history or ancient history. We have introduced the English baccalaureate to encourage schools to increase opportunities for pupils to study history as part of a core of key academic subjects and early evidence suggests that the measure is already having a positive impact on pupils’ subject choices.

[Iain Stewart]

I recently spent a day shadowing an inspirational history teacher at the Hazeley academy in my constituency. If my hon. Friend would like to see a good example of a school offering history in its curriculum, may I urge him to visit the school?

[Mr Gibb]

I would be delighted to return to my hon. Friend’s constituency to visit the Hazeley academy. I agree that it is vital that the history curriculum should enable pupils to know and understand the key events of our country’s history. It is one of the issues that the curriculum review is destined to address, and I look forward to seeing inspirational history being taught at the Hazeley academy.