Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of the English Baccalaureate in achieving its objectives.

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) entry and achievement measures were introduced into the school performance tables to encourage the uptake and achievement of a set of academic subjects at GCSE: mathematics, English, science (including computer science), a modern or ancient foreign language and either history or geography. Since their introduction the proportion of the pupil cohort taking the EBacc qualifications at GCSE has grown from 21.8% in 2010 to 39.6% in 2016, but too many children are still missing out including, according to The Sutton Trust[1], high achieving pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

We have consulted on plans to ensure that the majority of young people take these qualifications in the future and will publish our response in due course.

[1] http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Missing-Talent-final-june.pdf