§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children who truanted from school in 2001–02 gained one or more GCSEs. [85348]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis[holding answer 4 December 2002]: The only available source of data on the GCSE attainment of young people who truanted from school is the Youth Cohort Study (YCS).
The latest data available from the YCS are for people who took their GCSEs in the summer of 1999. This shows that of those who occasionally truanted during year 11,95 per cent, reported gaining at least one GCSE, of those who persistently truanted during year 11, 79 per cent, reported gaining at least one GCSE.