§ Lady Olga MaitlandTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the extent of variations of hours children spend in schools; whether there are regional differences or differences for grant-maintained schools; and what analysis has been carried out of the correlation with performance.
§ Mr. Robin SquireProvisional data for January 1993 for maintained schools in England show that, in primary education, 3 per cent. of pupils are receiving less than 21 hours' teaching a week whereas at the other end of the range 4 per cent. are receiving 26 hours or more. In secondary education, 2 per cent. of pupils are receiving less than 23 hours a week compared to 26 hours or more received by the 5 per cent. at the other end of the range. On average, pupils in primary education received 23.2 hours per week compared with 24.3 hours per week for pupils in secondary education. These figures refer to time during which children are actually being taught rather than time spent on school premises.
There appear to be no significant differences between local education authorities maintained and self-governing 32W —GM—schools. There is some variation between regions: between an average of 22.9 hours per week in East Anglia and 23.5 hours per week in the north in primary education, and between an average of 24.1 hours per week in Yorkshire and Humberside and 24.5 hours per week in East Anglia and the south-west in secondary education.
Initial work carried out in the Department indicates on average a small but statistically significant positive correlation between the length of the taught week and educational performance as measured by public examinations and national tests.