§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of pupils attending state schools outside their own local education authority area in September. [7274]
Number of schools which have been awarded specialist schools status in the last five years, by specialism Status 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Arts College 6 11 12 28 34 Sports College 11 15 11 30 34 Language College 15 11 15 28 27 Technology College 43 46 42 51 57
§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of schools seeking specialist status which have been unable to raise sufficient funds for this purpose. [7277]
§ Mr. TimmsOur network of 685 specialist schools shows that applicant schools across the country, including those from rural and inner city areas, have raised the sponsorship required, but we are aware some schools find this more difficult than others. It would not be practicable to make an estimate of the number of schools that have been unable to raise the funds but we have taken steps to ensure all schools have reasonable opportunity to do so. In 1999, the sponsorship requirement was halved to £50,000 and my Department grant-aids the Technology Colleges and Youth Sport Trusts, to provide advice to schools about raising sponsorship and raise funds themselves to support applicant schools. In addition we will continue to keep the sponsorship criteria under review.
§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have applied for specialist status in each category in(a) the last academic year and (b) the current academic year. [7278]
992W
§ Mr. TimmsThe information requested is not collected centrally.
Information on children educated in a local education authority area other than the one where they normally reside is only collected for those pupils with special educational needs.