Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students are taught in schools rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in (a) the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, (b) Berkshire and (c) the UK.
Answered by David Laws
As Ofsted is responsible for the requested statistics, this is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. A copy of his reply will be placed in the library of the House.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to encourage schools to provide students with hands-on programming experience.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The new computing programmes of study, which were introduced in September 2014, have a greater focus on how computers work and the basics of programming. They also cover digital literacy and the application of information technology. Primary school pupils should be taught how to design and write programs to accomplish specific goals, using sequencing, selection and repetition; and secondary school pupils should be taught to use at least two programming languages to solve a variety of computational problems.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential costs and benefits of the introduction of universal infant free school meals in the UK.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education is responsible for the introduction of the requirement that state-funded schools in England should offer universal infant free school meals, which came into effect on 1 September 2014.
Between 2009 and 2011 the Department for Education and the Department of Health piloted the provision of universal free school meals in Durham and Newham. The independent evaluation of those pilots showed that there were a number of benefits arising from the provision of universal free school meals, including improved attainment, healthier eating habits and increases in the uptake of meals among children who would have been eligible for free school meals under the existing criteria. We also know, from research carried out by the School Food Trust (now Children’s Food Trust), that universal infant free school meals will save families who previously paid for school lunches up to £400 a year per infant child.
The Department has used School Food Trust research into the costs of school meal provision, as well as feedback from local authorities and stakeholders, to inform the allocation of funding for this policy and the targeting of implementation support. In particular, this research informed the decision to allocate £2.30 of revenue funding per meal taken by newly eligible pupils.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics there were in UK secondary schools in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.
Answered by David Laws
The following table provides the number of science (by separate science subject), technology, engineering and mathematics teachers in service in publicly funded secondary schools in England in November of each year from 2011 to 2013: [1], [2]
Subject [3] | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
Physics | 5,900 | 6,000 | 6,200 |
Chemistry | 6,900 | 7,200 | 7,400 |
Biology | 8,500 | 8,700 | 8,800 |
Combined/General Science | 34,700 | 32,700 | 32,900 |
Other Sciences | 2,800 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
Technology | 14,800 | 13,800 | 13,400 |
Engineering | 1,600 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
Mathematics | 35,200 | 32,800 | 33,300 |
Source: School Workforce Census | |||
[1] Figures are based on a large sample of over 70% of secondary schools.
[2] Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
[3] Each teacher is counted once under each subject they teach.
Information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the respective devolved administrations.