§ Mrs. Clwydasked the Prime Minister to what Her Majesty's Government attribute the difference between the relative performance of pupils in Wales and in England in overall education achievements and in examination failure rates among pupils; and what Her Majesty's Government intend to do to remedy the situation.
§ The Prime MinisterThe one significant difference between England and Wales is in the percentage of pupils leaving maintained schools with no GCE O-Level or CSE certificates. The difference has persisted for many years though the figure in both countries has fallen markedly since the raising of the school leaving age. One factor which seems likely to contribute to the higher Welsh figure is that the certificate of secondary education examinations take place in Wales after the Whitsun leaving date and so generally exclude pupils leaving at that time. It may also be that CSE is less valued in Wales and that Welsh schools have adopted a more restrictive policy of examination entry. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has made plain his concern about the achievement of school pupils in Wales with the publication of a number of documents which have been discussed in detail with education authorities and others in recent years, and the Government has this week published the White Paper "Better Schools" (Cmnd 9469) which sets out its objective of improving standards generally and a programme for achieving that end.