§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make it his policy to include the publication of pupil achievements at entry and foundation level in the annual publication of the school performance league tables. [130870]
§ Jacqui SmithThe achievements of pupils at foundation level are already included in the annual secondary school performance tables. The first results in Entry Level qualifications are available this year, following accreditation of courses from 1998. We have recently sought advice from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the suitability of Entry Level qualifications for inclusion in the calculation of measures306W of value added for publication in the performance tables. Doing so would ensure increased coverage of the achievements of pupils with special educational needs in our measurement of pupils' progress in schools from one stage of education to another, in line with our overall policy of inclusion for these pupils.
§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to adjust the reporting of data in the school performance tables to provide a more accurate picture of schools which take in pupils from overseas with English language difficulties. [132063]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Government have considered very carefully the representations they have received from schools which take in significant numbers of pupils form overseas, including refugee and asylum seeker children, who have difficulties with the English language. Until they have had an opportunity to improve their language skills and to become familiar with the English curriculum, such pupils will not do their best in National Curriculum tests and in public examinations.
We have therefore decided that pupils recently arrived from overseas, with English language difficulties, should not be counted as being on school rolls when performance is calculated for the purpose of producing the primary and secondary school performance tables. This change will apply with effect from this year's performance tables, which will be published towards the end of the year. It will apply to all pupils from overseas whose first language is not English and who were admitted to an English school for the first time on or after the start of Year 5 (for the primary school tables) or Year 10 (for the secondary school tables).
Schools will be invited in the autumn to provide officials in the Department for Education and Employment with information about those pupils who fall into the category described above and who should not be counted as being on the school roll for performance tables purposes. Further details will be made available to schools early in the autumn term.
This change will apply only to school and local educational authority level data in the performance tables. National data will continue to be reported on the same basis as in previous years, with overseas pupils included.