Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the ethnic background of pupils who achieved (a) AAA, (b) AAB and ABB grades at A-level in the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of students, at the end of 16-18 study, achieving A*-B grades in A levels, split by ethnic background, is provided in the attached table.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional university places have been created at (a) Russell Group and (b) non-Russell Group universities since the lifting of the cap on undergraduate numbers.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
In 2013, the government announced that the student number controls at publicly-funded higher education institutions in England would be removed by 2015/16. This was preceded by a relaxation of student number controls for AAB students, who were made exempt from 2012/13, and ABB students, who were exempt from 2013/14.
Student number controls applied to full-time undergraduate students at English higher education institutions who were domiciled in the UK or European Union prior to study.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students enrolled in higher education institutions in England. Time series for UK and EU domiciled full-time undergraduate entrants at Russell Group and non-Russell Group higher education institutions in England have been provided in the table below.
UK and EU domiciled full-time undergraduate entrants by provider group
English Higher Education Institutions
Academic years 2013/14 to 2016/17
| 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 |
Russell Group | 79,135 | 82,075 | 87,145 | 89,415 |
Non-Russell Group | 283,775 | 291,875 | 300,465 | 306,070 |
Total | 362,910 | 373,950 | 387,610 | 395,485 |
Source: HESA Student Record 2013/14 to 2016/17
Note:
(1) Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest multiple of five.
(2) Entrants refers to first year students.
The number of entrants is affected by the decisions taken by higher education institutions and applicants to these institutions; as such, this is likely to differ from the number of places available.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils who are (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals have taken up English Baccalaureate subjects in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number and percentage of pupils, split by their eligibility for free school meals, entering the English Baccalaureate in each of the last seven years is provided in the attached table.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information he holds on the (a) number of pupils in each ethnic group who have taken subjects in the English Baccalaureate and (b) grades that those pupils have achieved since the introduction of that qualification.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number and percentage of pupils, split by ethnicity, entering and achieving the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) in each of the last seven years is provided in the attached table. The Department did not publish EBacc entries and achievements, split by pupil characteristics, in the period 2009 to 2010.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of Friday 26 January 2018 to Question 123604, on Special Educational Needs, if he will publish the ministerial letters sent to local authorities inspected under the Ofsted/Care Quality Commission Special Educational Needs and Disability inspection framework, that had significant weaknesses; and what steps are being taken to monitor the progress of those local authorities that were not required to produce a Written Statement of Action.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department’s policy is for ministers to write to local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups in all local areas shortly after the publication of their inspection report. Ministers write again, a year later, to areas where inspectors identified significant concerns, to reflect on the progress made. These letters form part of our work to support and challenge the work of local leaders as they improve services; and to recognise where services have improved.
We have no plans to publish these letters, which are copied to all relevant MPs and the Leader of the Council, but they are intended for public use. In areas where inspectors identified significant concerns, we copy the letters to all relevant MPs and the Leader of the Council. We encourage local council leaders to share the letters with their partners, including parents, to inform and support their work to improve services. Some areas, for example, Rochdale and Surrey, have published these ministerial letters and I would encourage others to do the same.
We have been encouraged by the commitment of council leaders to using the local area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) inspections as a catalyst to improve services. The government recently provided a further £29 million (in addition to £223 million since 2014) to support local authorities with ongoing implementation of the SEND reforms. The department will also continue to provide funding of £2.3 million per year for parent carer forums in 2018-19 and 2019-20, as well as specialist SEND advisers to work directly with local authorities, to hold services to account and support them to improve.
In those local areas where inspectors have not requested a written statement of action, we follow up on the strengths and areas for development as part of on-going local area performance monitoring. We also draw on a wide range of intelligence, including surveys; research; and feedback, including from parents and the specialist SEND advisers. Where local area performance, such as the commissioning of services, is a particular concern, officials work closely with partners, including the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, to engage jointly with local areas to provide support and challenge.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of Tuesday 27 March 2018 to Question 133298, on Schools: Southampton, what the pupil-teacher ratio, including teaching assistants, is in each state-funded (a) primary and (b) secondary school in Southampton Itchen constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The attached table provides the average pupil to teacher/teaching assistant ratio in each state funded primary and secondary school in Southampton Itchen constituency in November 2016 the latest year available. November 2017 figures will be available in the summer.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil-teacher ratio, including teaching assistants, is in schools in Southampton.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following table provides the average pupil to teacher/teaching assistant ratio in state funded schools in Southampton local authority area and England in November 2016 the latest year available.[1] November 2017 figures will be available in the summer.
| State Funded Schools[2] | |
| Southampton | England |
2016 | 10.2 | 11.1 |
Source: School Workforce Census |
[1] The within-school Pupil:Teacher/Teaching Assistant Ratio (qualified and unqualified teachers) is calculated by dividing the total FTE number of pupils on roll in schools in each year by the total number of FTE teachers and FTE teaching assistants in schools in each year. Where schools are not open on Census (January) they are excluded. See School Workforce Census methodology document for further information: Methodology: SFR25/2017
[2] Excludes centrally employed staff.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has she made of the impact of the English Baccalaureate on improving the educational outcomes for children on Free School Meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department published the outcomes of the consultation on implementing the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) on 19 July (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate) alongside its EBacc equality analysis (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-baccalaureate-equality-analysis).
The EBacc policy aims to ensure that the vast majority of pupils, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, take the EBacc subjects. Sutton Trust research1 found that 300 secondary schools had transformed their Key Stage 4 curriculum between 2010 and 2013 in response to Government policy, achieving a rise in the proportion of pupils entering the EBacc from 8% to 48%. It also found that pupil premium students benefitted most from the changes at these schools.
The Department publishes entries into, and achievement of, the EBacc for pupils eligible for free school meals. A time series, with the latest available information (2015/16) can be be found in the ‘characteristics summary’ tab, of the ‘characteristics national tables: SFR03/2017’ at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per pupil did (a) free (b) academy (c) comprehensive, and (d) grammar schools receive in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
For the current financial year 2017 to 2018, the pre-16 funding for secondary pupils is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2017-to-2018.
Schools selective status is available at:
(https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads using the ‘State-funded school fields CSV’ link).
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 in receipt of free school meals attend (a) Free Schools, (b) academies, (c) comprehensives and (d) grammar schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information is published in the underlying data: SFR28/2017 of the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release.
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.