HC Deb 11 March 2003 vol 401 c170W
Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools with a specialist designation there were in each of the last five years; and what percentage of specialist schools have chosen to exercise the option to select by aptitude.[101038]

Mr. Miliband

[holding answer 10 March 2003]: The number of schools in the Specialist Schools Programme in September for the last five years is as follows:

Number
1998 327
1999 403
2000 536
2001 685
2002 992

Our figures suggest that less than 6 per cent. of schools that were specialist in summer 2002 (685 schools) used aptitude as part of their admission arrangements.