§ 16. Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has given Her Majesty's inspectorate in the light of the number of school leavers with insufficient basic educational qualifications.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe Government look to Her Majesty's inspectorate for independent advice on all educational matters. We look forward to studying its forthcoming review of the lower attaining pupils' programme, which we established in 1982. Provisional statistics indicate that, following the introduction of GCSE, the proportion of school leavers with qualifications in English, maths and French has increased significantly, as has the proportion of 16-year-olds gaining five or more results at grade C or above.