HC Deb 20 November 1991 vol 199 cc208-9W
Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will undertake a review of the resource requirements of those grant-maintained schools which incur additional costs by providing teaching experience for postgraduate students who are following courses of teacher training.

Mr. Alan Howarth

The Secretary of State has no plans to undertake a review of the resource requirements of grant-maintained schools for the provision of teaching experience for students on initial teacher training courses.

Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what funds are currently available to local education authorities and grant-maintained schools to assist them with the additional costs incurred in providing teaching experience for postgraduate students who are following courses of teacher training.

Mr. Eggar

Funding for students on courses of initial teacher training is directed, through the funding councils, to the teacher training institutions, which are responsible for making arrangements for teaching practice and other school experience for such students.

Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students each year from courses of teacher training undertake training placements in schools; and how many days on average each student spends each year on such placements.

Mr. Fallon

During the 1991–92 academic year, about 15,000 postgraduate certificate of education students and about 23,000 undergraduate students will be placed at a school as part of their teacher training. Postgraduate certificate of education students spend an average of 18 weeks on school experience and teaching practice during their one-year course. Undergraduate students on four-year courses spend an average of 26 weeks in schools over the whole course, with much of this being concentrated in the final year of the course.