§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether the commitment to the target of 1992 for the completion of achievement profiling for all pupils in maintained schools still stands;
(2) how many pupils in maintained schools at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are currently thought to be covered by achievement profiling;
(3) what records his Department keeps of progress on achievement profiling; and what information it requires on profiling from local education authorities;
(4) what study his Department has made, or proposes to make, of additional resources whether human or material, required in the introduction of achievement profiling.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe Government's objective is to agree and establish by 1990 national arrangements under which all young people in secondary schools will have a record of achievement. Education support grants are being used to support development work in nine pilot schemes in England and Wales, to cast light on the best ways to record pupils' achievement, including consideration of the resource implications.
A national steering committee has been set up to oversee the work of the pilot schemes and to report this autumn on experience gained and the implications for introducing records of achievement nationally. The schemes have made annual reports on progress to the committee and will make their final reports in March. A national evaluation team is evaluating progress for the committee.
Information about the number of pupils involved in records of achievement schemes throughout the country is not collected centrally. The pilot schemes receiving education support grant funding involve 22 local education authorities in England and Wales and some 250 secondary schools. Records of achievement are also being developed in many schools and local education authorities outside these areas.