§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the educational attainment of schoolchildren in(a) current and former coalfield areas and (b) England; and what improvement there has been since 1997. [41796]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisIn January 2001, we jointly commissioned research with the Coalfield Communities Campaign that looked into patterns of educational achievement in the coalfields. Former and current coalfield areas are benefiting from the literacy and numeracy strategies at primary level.
Percentage attainment indicators for boys England Coalfields Key stage 1 1998 2000 1998 2000 Level 2+ reading (comprehension test) 75 77 73 79 Level 2+ maths 83 89 82 88 The same trend applied to girls. Beyond Key Stage 1, performance in coalfield areas did improve but remained below the national average. The full research report is available on the Department's internet site www.dfes.gov.uk (DFES research report 314) and in the House of Commons Library.
We recognise that more still needs to be done which is why we published the Schools White Paper—Schools: Achieving Success. It is a significant package for the reform of secondary education and also sets out our vision for education for the years ahead. The full consultation paper is available on the Department's internet site.