§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what inspections of secondary schools have been undertaken by Her Majesty's inspectors specifically for purposes relevant to the introduction of the general certificate of secondary education; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what information is available to his Department from recent inspections of secondary schools by Her 23W Majesty's inspectors on (a) quality of lessons in the new general certificate of secondary education courses; (b) adequacy of resources for the teaching of general certificate of secondary education courses; and (c) adequacy of relevant teacher training and preparation for general certificate of secondary education courses; when he expects the reports of such inspections to be published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. RumboldHer Majesty's inspectors have established detailed arrangements for monitoring all aspects of the introduction of the GCSE throughout the academic year 1986–87. They will do so as part of their routine and specialist visits to schools rather than through specific inspections devoted solely to the GCSE; its introduction will have implications for other aspects of provision in schools and it is important that these are taken into account. They will in addition be discussing GCSE provision with all chief education officers by means of three regional conferences, and with local authority officers and advisers as part of their day-to-day contacts: Where appropriate, Her Majesty's inspectors will comment on the introduction of the GCSE in their reports on individual schools and colleges. They will also be preparing more general reports, but it is too early to say when these will be ready, as the first GCSE courses only began in the autumn term 1986.