HC Deb 04 April 1990 vol 170 cc618-9W
Mr. Bradley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about trends in examination results in Greater Manchester since 1975.

Mrs. Rumbold

The table gives the percentage of leavers from the Greater Manchester area and for England obtaining five or more grades at A to C in the GCSE (or its equivalent at O-level and CSE) and one or more A-level passes, since 1974–75.

Examination attainments of leavers from maintained schools Percentage of leavers
5+ graded results at GCSE, O-level and CSE (A to C)1 1+ A-level passes2
Greater Manchester England Greater Manchester England
1987–88 24.0 26.6 13.6 15.2
1986–87 22.7 23.2 13.8 13.9
1985–86 22.9 23.6 13.6 13.6
1984–85 22.7 23.7 12.3 13.9
1983–84 23.1 23.8 12.3 14.3
1982–83 21.6 23.3 13.3 14.4
1981–82 20.6 23.0 11.3 14.1
1980–81 19.3 21.8 11.0 13.5
1979–80 19.0 20.9 11.1 12.6
1978–79 19.6 20.6 11.5 12.6
1977–78 18.8 20.5 11.4 12.7
1976–77 17.7 20.3 10.3 12.8
1975–76 16.4 19.5 10.0 12.8
1974–75 17.1 19.1 10.4 12.5
1 GCSE grades A to C; 0-level grades A to C; CSE grade 1.
2 Grades A to E.

Notes:

  1. 1. The School Leavers Survey, from which the figures in the table are derived, is based on a 10 per cent. sample of pupils at each school. Sampling error may lead to distortion in the trends.
  2. 2. The figures do not provide the overall picture. There has been a growing tendency among 16-year-olds in particular to leave school for GCSE/0-level/A-level study in full-time further education.
  3. 3. All figures exclude leavers from direct grant schools. Such leavers were included in an answer to a similar question to Mr. John Marshall (Hendon, South) on 21 March 1990 for the earliest three years given.