Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making it compulsory for all schools to have sprinklers installed.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government takes the safety of pupils and teachers very seriously. All schools have to follow strict fire safety regulations, including having a Fire Risk Assessment, designed to ensure they are as safe as possible and well prepared in the event of a fire.
All new school building projects must comply with Building Regulations, including on fire safety, and this is independently certified by Building Control or an Approved Inspector before buildings are occupied. Where sprinklers are deemed necessary to keep pupils and staff safe, following an assessment of risk at the design stage, or to meet local planning requirements, they should be fitted.
Following the tragic Grenfell fire, the government has launched a Public Inquiry and an independent review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. Alongside the rest of Government, we will take forward any relevant recommendations.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the change in attainment levels at Key Stage 4 for (a) white, (b) BAME and (c) all pupils who are (i) eligible and (ii) not eligible for free school meals in the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has published the attainment levels, at the end of Key Stage 4, for all pupils, split by ethnicity and free school meals eligibility. They are available as part of the Department’s ‘GCSE and equivalents’ statistical first release (SFR)[1].
The Government is determined to deliver an education system that ensures that all pupils – regardless of ethnicity, background or gender – have the opportunity to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. Through our curriculum and qualification reforms we have set high expectations for what all pupils will achieve. Our performance measures for secondary schools are intended to focus attention on the academic progress made by every pupil during Key Stages 3 and 4, as well as their GCSE attainment.
While pupil attainment does vary by ethnicity, the most significant factor affecting academic performance across all ethnic groups is economic disadvantage. We are helping schools improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils by continuing to provide pupil premium funding, worth nearly £2.5 billion in 2017-18. Our new national funding formula for schools, when fully implemented, will also allocate £3 billion – 9.1% of the total funding – based on deprivation factors.
For 2014/15, the SFR is located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015. The data is located in the ‘characteristics national tables: SFR01/2016’ table CH2A.
For 2010/11 – 2013/14, the SFR is located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2014. The data is located in the ‘national and local authority tables: SFR05/2015’ table 2. All previous years can be accessed here.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils have studied humanities at GCSE level in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The proportion of students entered for modern foreign languages, humanities, double science and triple science since 2010 is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2016 to 2017 (provisional)” statistical first release[1]. A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate is available on the school performance tables’ website[2].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2016-to-2017-provisional - table 1c
[2] A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_14/English_Baccalaureate_list_of_qualifications_July_2015.xls.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils have studied (a) double and (b) triple science in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The proportion of students entered for modern foreign languages, humanities, double science and triple science since 2010 is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2016 to 2017 (provisional)” statistical first release[1]. A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate is available on the school performance tables’ website[2].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2016-to-2017-provisional - table 1c
[2] A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_14/English_Baccalaureate_list_of_qualifications_July_2015.xls.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils have studied a modern foreign language at GCSE level in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The proportion of students entered for modern foreign languages, humanities, double science and triple science since 2010 is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2016 to 2017 (provisional)” statistical first release[1]. A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate is available on the school performance tables’ website[2].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2016-to-2017-provisional - table 1c
[2] A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_14/English_Baccalaureate_list_of_qualifications_July_2015.xls.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost is of preparing and serving a meal in state-funded schools.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I am sorry, but the school governing boards are responsible for their school meals service at a local level and the department does not collect this information.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average ratio of applicants to places was in (a) academies, (b) free schools, (c) comprehensive and (d) grammar schools in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department publishes figures annually on the applications and offers made for a secondary or primary school place through the coordinated admissions process. Offers are made on the respective national offer days of 1 March (secondary) and 16 April (primary). We do not collect the total number of places in a school at the time applications were made and so the number of places offered by schools are attached.
Summaries at national and local authority level from 2011 onwards are published on the Department’s statistics website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-applications.
However, information on primary level preferences is only included from 2014/15 onwards. This is when the Department started collecting data on primary applications and offers, based on the newly introduced national primary offer day of 16 April (or next working day). In 2014/15 the collection for secondary schools was revised to allow the production of school level figures.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) academies, (b) free schools, (c) comprehensive and (d) grammar schools are rated good or outstanding.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Southampton, Itchen, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average pupil-teacher ratio is in (a) academies, (b) free schools, (c) comprehensive and (d) grammar schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The average salary of teachers in academies and local authority maintained schools is published in Table 9a of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ statistical release, available at the following web link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.
Information on the average salary of teachers in grammar and comprehensive schools is not routinely published.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average salary is of teachers in an (a) academy, (b) free school, (c) grammar school and (d) comprehensive school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The pupil teacher ratio in academies and local authority maintained schools is published in Table 17a of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ statistical release, available at the following web link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.
Information on the pupil teacher ratio in grammar and comprehensive schools is not routinely published.