§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the total cost of producing, administering, marking and providing supply cover for the tests and tasks for key stages(a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3, in each year since 1990. [30733]
§ Mr. ForthThe information by financial year for development, printing and distributing the tests and tasks is as follows:
£ million Key stage 1 Key stage 2 Key stage 3 1989–90 1.9 — 1.8 1990–91 2.9 — 3.7 1991–92 2.5 0.01 3.8 1992–93 2.5 0.2 5.6 1993–94 2.2 2.9 6.5 1994–95 1.2 2.2 2.5 Total 13.2 5.3 23.9 The costs of external marking of the test scripts of pupils at key stages 2 and 3 in 1994–95 were £3.4 million and in 1995–96 an estimated £18.6 million. In addition, my Department is supporting 60 per cent. of the estimated £8 million costs of auditing the marking of the tests and tasks for key stage 1 in 1995–96.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave about supply cover costs on 6 June, Official Report, column 11.