§ Mr. GunnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how many specific errors in the league table of school examination results were reported to his Department within the first 48 hours of publication.
§ Mr. ForthWithin the first 48 hours the Department had received 52 complaints; during this time, only two complaints were substantiated, one of which was a spelling mistake. The press were notified as soon as those errors came to light and erratum slips have been sent out with the tables concerned.
The other complaints did not reveal errors on the part of the Department or its contractors. The schools concerned had in many cases supplied the information they were complaining about; others had not asked for any changes, had asked for unacceptable changes, had not sent in the necessary evidence, or sent it in too late; one was complaining about a newspaper error which misquoted the tables.