Drama: GCSE

(asked on 18th July 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) students and (b) students eligible for free school meals studied GCSE drama in each year since 2012.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 23rd July 2018

The number of pupils, in state-funded schools, who at the end of Key Stage 4 entered into GCSE (or equivalent) drama, between 2011/12 – 2016/17 and were eligible for free school meals (FSM), are provided in the table below:

The number of pupils[1], in state-funded schools, at the end of key stage 4, who entered into GCSE (or equivalent) drama[2] , between 2011/12 – 2016/17[3], who were eligible for FSM[4]

Academic year GCSE Drama Entered

Total pupils entering

Total entrants as % of all pupils

Entrants who were eligible for FSM

% of entrants that were eligible for FSM

2011/12[5]

62,648

11.2

7,390

11.8

2012/13

62,091

10.9

7,582

12.2

2013/14[6]

62,684

11.2

7,849

12.5

2014/15[7]

63,059

11.4

7,717

12.2

2015/16

61,080

11.3

7,045

11.5

2016/17

55,739

10.6

6,396

11.5


The number of pupils who entered GCSE (or equivalent) drama, split by ethnicity, can be found in the attached table.

[1] Total number of entries include pupils who were absent, whose results are pending and results which are ungraded or unclassified.

[2] Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once and only one entry is counted in these circumstances. Prior to 2014, best entry discounting, where the pupil’s best result is used was in place in performance tables. From 2014 onwards, first entry rules were introduced, where a pupil’s first entry in that subject is used in performance tables. For more information on discounting and early entry, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-4-qualifications-discount-codes-and-point-scores.

[3] All figures are based on final data so may have small differences from total entries figures published in the department’s statistical release.

[4] FSM eligibility is taken from the school census for that academic year.

[5] Figures for 2011/12 are based on GCSE entries only and does not include equivalents. Caution should be used when comparing these figures to later years.

[6] In 2013/14, two major reforms were implemented which affect the calculation of key stage 4 performance measures data: 1) Professor Alison Wolf’s Review of Vocational Education recommendations which: restrict the qualifications counted; prevent any qualification from counting as larger than one GCSE; and cap the number of non-GCSEs included in performance measures at two per pupil, and 2) an early entry policy to only count a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification, in subjects counted in the English Baccalaureate; this new rule is only implemented with regard to English Baccalaureate subjects this year and will be expanded to apply to all subjects in 2014/15.

[7] From 2014/15, early entry policy, under which only a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification is counted in performance measures, is extended to all subjects.

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