Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary school places, (b) primary school age pupils on the roll, (c) pupils in excess of school capacity and (d) unfilled primary school places there were in Suffolk in academic year 2014-15.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The department collects information from each local authority on the number of schools, the number of places in those schools and the number of pupils on roll through the annual school capacity survey (SCAP).
The data is published annually. Data for May 2015 (relating to academic year 2014/15) can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015
As at May 2015, in Suffolk there were:
a) 59,140 primary school places
b) 52,169 primary school age pupils on roll
c) 329 primary pupils in excess of school capacity
d) 7,300 unfilled primary school places.
School capacities are as reported by local authorities for all school types, based on their knowledge of each school.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Key Stage 1 children in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) the East of England were in classes of more than 30 children in the academic year beginning September (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (iv) 2014 and (v) 2015.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of pupils in key stage one classes of more than 30 pupils for each of the years and locations requested is given below, along with the corresponding number of classes:
- | Bury St Edmunds Constituency | Suffolk Local Authority | East of England | |||
- | Number of Pupils | Number of Classes | Number of Pupils | Number of Classes | Number of Pupils | Number of Classes |
Jan-11 | 157 | 5 | 468 | 15 | 3,735 | 119 |
Jan-12 | 96 | 3 | 408 | 13 | 4,905 | 157 |
Jan-13 | 31 | 1 | 529 | 17 | 6,575 | 211 |
Jan-14 | 93 | 3 | 437 | 14 | 7,705 | 247 |
Jan-15 | 124 | 4 | 751 | 24 | 9,338 | 299 |
Jan-16 | 155 | 5 | 716 | 23 | 9,451 | 303 |
This information has been taken from the Local authority tables and underlying data of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release[1] for the corresponding year.
Of those infant classes with more than 30 pupils, roughly 95% of pupils are in classes of 31 or 32 pupils and larger classes are uncommon.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the take-up of academy places and (b) the performance of academies in Bury St Edmunds constituency in the last five years.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The number of pupils on roll in the nine academies in the Bury St Edmunds Constituency for the years when they were open as academies from January 2012 to January 2016 is provided in the table below:
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Bury St Edmunds County Upper School | 1009 | 993 | 957 | 978 | 987 |
Horringer Court Middle School | 296 | 272 | 307 | 356 | 371 |
Westley Middle School | 468 | 466 | 470 | 468 | 478 |
Priory School | 121 | 117 | 129 | 135 | 143 |
Tollgate Primary School | N/A | N/A | N/A | 224 | 273 |
Great Barton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 200 |
Rattlesden Church of England Voluntary Controlled School | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 123 |
Thurston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 197 |
Woolpit Community Primary School | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 171 |
Source: School Census, January 2012 to 2016
The percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths at key stage 2 in 2012 to 2015 for academies with results in 2015 in the Bury St Edmunds constituency was as follows:
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Horringer Court Middle School | 64% | 72% | 79% | 83% |
Westley Middle School | 67% | 70% | 80% | 78% |
Source: School Performance Tables
The percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and mathematics GCSEs at key stage 4 in 2012 to 2015 for the academy with results in 2015 in the Bury St Edmunds constituency was as follows:
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Bury St Edmunds County Upper School | 74% | 77% | 70% | 70% |
Source: School Performance Tables
There were no open academies in Bury St Edmunds constituency before August 2011 and no academy results before 2012. Key stage 4 results from 2014 reflect the removal of many equivalent vocational qualifications and other reforms.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children living in Bury St Edmunds constituency have been eligible to receive free school meals in each of the last six years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of pupils attending schools in Bury St Edmunds and known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals in each of the last six years is given in the table below:
Year | Number of Pupils on Roll | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming FSM | % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming FSM |
January 2011 | 17,436 | 1,328 | 7.6 |
January 2012 | 17,412 | 1,365 | 7.8 |
January 2013 | 17,270 | 1,515 | 8.8 |
January 2014 | 17,294 | 1,716 | 9.9 |
January 2015 | 17,510 | 1,618 | 9.2 |
January 2016 | 17,360 | 1,508 | 8.7 |
This information has been calculated from the underlying data of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release[1] for each corresponding year.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers