Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts
Monday 20th December 2010

(13 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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That is a fair constituency case. As I pointed out in reply to an earlier question, I am interested in supporting schools in County Durham and the north-east that have faced difficult circumstances, and I have had the chance to see schools in Consett and Stanley that are also in a bad way and need support. They have embraced academy solutions, and if the hon. Gentleman wishes to explore such a solution for Seaham, I would be delighted to explore that. In any case, I will look closely at the situation he described to see what can be done.

Jeremy Lefroy Portrait Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)
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The 2009 OECD assessment of UK schools referred to earlier concluded that 77% of the differences between schools in student performance are explained by differences in socio-economic backgrounds—only Luxembourg has a higher figure. What assessment has the Minister made of that, and what will the Government do to address the situation?