§ Baroness Blatchasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the data which form the basis for Baroness Blackstone's statement on 15 March (H.L. Deb., col. 1546) that "The average performance of the top 24 per cent of pupils in maintained comprehensive schools is slightly higher than in grammar schools". [HL1800]
§ Lord BachThe statement reflects the comparative performance of two groups of pupils. The first group included all 15 year-olds in grammar schools. Their results were:
Performance Percentage achieving 5 + grades A*-C at GCSE/GNVQ 96.4% Percentage achieving 1 + grades A*-G at GCSE/GNVQ 99.6% Average point score per 15 year-old pupil 60.7 The second group included the top 25 per cent of 15 year-old pupils in comprehensive schools—based on their total GCSE/GNVQ point score (in order not 152WA to include and exclude some pupils with the same point score, the actual percentage of pupils included was 24.5 per cent). Their results were:
Performance Percentage achieving 5 + grades A*-C at GCSE/GNVQ 100% Percentage achieving 1 + grades A*-G at GCSE/GNVQ 100% Average point score per 15 year-old pupil 60.9 This analysis was carried out by the department's Analytical Services. It is based on the data collected for the secondary school performance tables published in November 1999. The analysis was carried out from a pupil level file and based on the results of all 15 year-old pupils in grammar schools and the top 25 per cent of pupils in comprehensive schools. This percentage was chosen because it reflects the proportion of pupils typically taken in by grammar schools in wholly selective LEAs. The pupils in the comprehensive schools were ranked according to their total GCSE/GNVQ point scores.