HC Deb 28 November 1995 vol 267 cc679-80W
Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many school governing bodies she has consulted in respect of modifications to their published proposals for grant-maintained status. [2894]

Mr. Robin Squire

In some 650 cases the school governing body has been consulted.

Mr. Illsley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the total amount of financial balances held by both local education authority and grant-maintained schools broken down by local authority. [2696]

Mr. Squire

For local education authority schools in England this information was given in respect of 1993–94 in answers to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 19 January 1995,Official Report, column 641–43 and 27 January 1995, Official Report, column 410–11. I shall write to the hon. Member when the Department has completed its examination of the local management of schools outturn statements produced by LEAS for 1994–95.

The financial monitoring of grant-maintained schools is the responsibility of the Funding Agency for Schools. I have asked the chairman of the funding agency to write to the hon. Member.

Mr. Marlow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will compare the trends in the examination results at grant-maintained and non-grant-maintained schools. [2879]

Mr. Squire

Over the last four years pupils at GM schools have, on average, gained better GCSE results than their LEA school counterparts, as the table shows:

Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving 5+ GCSE grades A1-C
Percentage
1992 1993 1994 11995
LEA maintained schools
Comprehensive 34.3 36.4 38.5 38.7
Selective 86.9 91.6 94.1 94.0
Modern/other 18.6 22.0 24.1 25.9
Total 35.0 37.0 39.1 39.4
Grant-maintained schools
Comprehensive 38.8 40.9 43.4 44.7
Selective 89.8 93.2 94.5 93.7
Modern/other 20.3 23.0 24.6 26.2
Total 44.9 45.3 47.4 48.8
1 The 1995 figures are provisional.

The difference is most marked when the performance of comprehensive school pupils is compared. In 1992 38.8 per cent, of GM school pupils had gained three or more grades A to C, compared with 34.3 per cent. in LEA-maintained schools, a gap of 4.5 per cent. By 1995 this gap has risen to 6 per cent.

Information is not yet available on trends in results at GM and LEA primary schools. In 1994 the key stage 1 results for GM and LEA primary schools were as follows:

Percentage of pupils achieving level 2 or above
Reading Writing Number
GM LEA GM LEA GM LEA
84 80 72 67 85 82

Equivalent information on key stage one results in 1995 will be available early in the new year, together with results for key stages 2 and 3 for the first time.