Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage the uptake of mathematics in post-16 education; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by David Laws
We are reforming mathematics in post-16 education and have set out our ambition for the majority of young people in England to study mathematics to at least age 18 by 2020. In addition, students without at least a grade C in mathematics GCSE are now required to continue to study this vital subject within 16-19 education until they gain this valuable qualification.
We are reforming A level maths to provide a better stepping stone to mathematical study at university, and we are expanding the Further Maths Support Programme to support and enhance A level teaching. From 2017 Level 3 maths will count in the 16-19 schools and college performance tables and in the TechBacc measure from 2016. This will recognise schools and colleges that deliver maths to age 18 effectively and ensure that maths education receives the priority it deserves.
We are also introducing ‘Core Maths’ qualifications from 2015 for post-16 students who achieve at least a C at GCSE, but do not progress to A level or AS level. These qualifications will help young people think mathematically, logically and analytically. We expect large numbers of students to elect to take these qualifications, which will be valued by employers and universities. Almost 200 schools and colleges have signed up to take part in the programme already.
We have recently created a network of Maths Hubs, supported with £11 million over their first two years, to raise standards of maths education from the early years to age 19. One of the main responsibilities of Maths Hubs will be to support increased participation in maths to age 18 in their area.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the annual cost to her Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Information is not available in the form requested. The report published by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Official Report, 13 May 2014, 17WS) shows that Department for Education Ministers received 16,898 letters from parliamentarians in the 2013 calendar year. We do not keep records of the form in which replies to such letters are sent. As explained by the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare in the reply given to the hon. Member on 7 July, Official Report Column 151W, most correspondence from hon. Members continues to be received as letters and is replied to in the same format. Ministers do, however, reply by email when they consider it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursery places were available in (a) Brighton and Hove and (b) Brighton, Kemptown constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Timpson
I have asked Ofsted to respond using the data they hold on registered nursery places. Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, will write to my hon. Friend, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries. Some providers, such as schools with nursery provision for children aged three or over, are exempt from registration. The number of places therefore may not include the full range of early years provision available in the area.
The Department for Education's Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on all registered childcare places, including those in maintained schools and nurseries. These figures are therefore more comprehensive than the Ofsted figures; however data is only available at a national and regional level, and in this case only for the South East.
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2011
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Brighton and Hove and (b) Brighton, Kemptown constituency have received free school meals in each year since 2010.
Answered by David Laws
Information on the number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014' Statistical First Release.[1]
Tables 8a-d show local authority level information. Parliamentary constituency level information is not published. Information for 2010 to 2013 can be found in previous versions of this release.[2]
[1]www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014
[2]www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding has been provided to each pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Brighton and Hove (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2014 prices in each year since 2010.
Answered by David Laws
Average per pupil funding figures for Brighton and Hove local authority (LA) are given below. With the introduction of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in 2006-07, the changes to the funding mechanism meant figures were no longer available to be shown split by phase of education.
Figures for financial years 2010 to 2013 are shown below. These are in cash terms:
Average revenue per pupil funding (cash) | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Brighton and Hove LA | 5,100 | 5,020 | 5,020 |
These are in real terms using June 2014 GDP deflators in 2013-14 prices:
Average revenue per pupil funding (real) | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Brighton and Hove LA | 5,360 | 5,160 | 5,100 |
Per pupil figures are using DSG allocations plus other schools related grants, e.g. school standards grant, school standards grant (personalisation), standards fund etc. and pupils aged 3-15 rounded to the nearest £10. Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into DSG in 2011-12. These figures do not include the Pupil Premium.
With the changes to DSG funding in financial year 2013-14, i.e. funding allocated through three blocks, namely schools, early years and high needs, there is no longer a comparable overall figure with previous years. The table below shows the DSG schools block unit funding figures in cash and real terms for Brighton and Hove LA.
DSG schools block per pupil funding | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
Brighton and Hove LA (cash) | 4,458 | 4,458 |
Brighton and Hove LA (real)* | 4,458 | 4,362 |
*Real terms figures shown in 2013-14 prices using GDP deflators at 27.06.14
Since 2011-12 schools have received the Pupil Premium, which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12, the Pupil Premium was allocated for each pupil known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and children of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. The amounts per pupil amounts for each type of pupil are shown in following table in cash terms:
Pupil Premium per pupil (£) | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
Free School Meal Pupil Primary | £488 | £623 | £953 | £1300 |
Free School Meal Pupil Secondary | £488 | £623 | £900 | £935 |
Service Children | £200 | £250 | £300 | £300 |
Looked After Children | £488 | £623 | £900 | £1900* |
*Also includes children adopted from care
Total Pupil Premium allocations for Brighton and Hove local authority for each year are shown in the following table in cash terms:
Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions) | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
Brighton and Hove | 2.588 | 4.880 | 7.423 | 9.618 |
These figures in real terms:
Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions) | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
Brighton and Hove | 2.661 | 4.964 | 7.423 | 9.411 |
Price Base: Real terms at 2013-14 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 27.06.2014
Capital funding:
The table below shows capital funding for the financial years that are available. The data is in cash terms as allocations are phased across more than one year making real terms calculations meaningless. Complete information on the split of capital between phases of education is not held centrally.
Brighton and Hove | ||
£m | Capital allocations1 | Of which Building Schools for the Future2 |
2010-11 | 45.3 | 0.0 |
2011-12 | 16.1 | 0.3 |
2012-13 | 23.1 | 8.8 |
2013-14 | 16.7 | 3.5 |
Notes:
1. Capital allocations includes capital grant and supported borrowing allocations.
2. BSF includes one school pathfinders.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that skilled mathematics and science graduates are attracted to careers in teaching; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Laws
The Government is committed to supporting schools in recruiting specialist teachers in mathematics and science. Specific support is provided for individuals interested in teaching these subjects through targeted marketing, personal advisors and securing school experience.
To attract graduates to teaching these subjects, we have significantly increased tax-free bursaries for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing trainee teachers from £9,000 in 2012/13 to up to £20,000 in 2014/15. In addition, we continue to work jointly with the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics and BCS, the chartered institute for IT, to offer scholarship awards of £25,000 in order to attract the most talented graduates into initial teacher training.
For the academic year 2014/15, we have extended our salaried School Direct training programme to encourage more experienced graduates to enter teacher training across a range of subjects, including mathematics and science. School Direct (salaried) is an employment-based route for high-quality, experienced graduates who earn a salary whilst training.
We are also continuing to fund subject knowledge enhancement courses, which are an important tool to ensure trainee teachers without a first class degree in the subject they will teach have sufficient specialist subject knowledge.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people leave school with a good level of English and mathematics; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Laws
We are reforming the mathematics and English curriculum and qualifications, raising expectations so that they match the best worldwide. The new national curriculum will match those in the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world, challenging pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.
At primary level, we have published a more rigorous curriculum with a greater level of demand. In mathematics, children will know their times tables by age nine and calculators will be removed from the test for 11 year olds to ensure that children get a rigorous grounding in mental and written arithmetic. To support schools, we will continue to fund the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. We also recently announced the establishment of 32 new Maths Hubs, supported with £11 million of funding over the next two years, which will drive up the quality of mathematics education from the early years to age 19.
In the new English national curriculum we have placed a greater focus on grammar, spelling and punctuation, with a new test for 11 year olds. We have strengthened the requirements on learning to read through systematic synthetic phonics, and we have introduced a phonics screening check at age six so that teachers can intervene early to help children catch up.
At secondary level, GCSEs in mathematics and English are also being reformed to be more challenging and give stronger guarantees of numeracy and literacy. We expect schools will increase time spent teaching mathematics – bringing us in line with our international competitors. The recently announced “Progress 8” measure gives double weighting to mathematics and English in performance tables for the first time. For year 7 pupils who have not achieved level 4 at key stage 2 in reading and/or mathematics we will continue to fund the catch-up premium worth £500 per pupil. This enables secondary schools to deliver additional support, such as individual tuition or intensive support in small groups, for those pupils that most need it.
We are also reforming post-16 education, including A levels in English and mathematics, and have set out our ambition for the majority of young people in England to study mathematics at least to age 18 by 2020. Students without at least a grade C at GCSE in mathematics or English are now required to continue to study the subject. In addition, new core mathematics qualifications are being developed for those students with GCSE grade C or above who do not go on to study A or AS level mathematics.
In addition, we have invested in and reformed initial teacher training to focus on attracting the very best graduates with the right qualities for teaching into the profession through scholarships and bursaries of up to £25,000 in key subjects such as mathematics, and supporting the expansion of the highly-successful Teach First programme.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued for teachers on identifying girls at risk of female genital mutilation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
On 3 April 2014 the Department for Education published ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education', which provides schools with updated statutory guidance about pupil safeguarding. The guidance contains information about female genital mutilation (FGM) and a link to more detailed multi-agency guidelines.
On 22 May 2014 the Department's summer term e-mail to all schools drew attention to the statutory guidance and reminded schools of the need to be particularly vigilant in the summer term because of the heightened risk during the summer holiday.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of levels of literacy and numeracy in (a) primary school leavers and (b) secondary school leavers in (i) Brighton, Kemptown constituency, (ii) East Sussex and (iii) South East England in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Laws
Key stage 2 national curriculum assessment statistics are published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2
GCSE attainment statistics are published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4
Attainment statistics by Parliamentary constituency are published online at:
www.education.gov.uk/inyourarea/
Information that is not already in the public domain has been placed in the House Library.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing for school governors during their school's transition to academy status; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education provides advice for governors, which is published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/becoming-an-academy-top-tips-for-governors
When a school applies to become an academy, it is allocated a named project lead who provides additional support and can attend governing body meetings.