§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 7 February 2001,Official Report, column 579W, what arrangements will be made to allocate unique pupil numbers to pupils in England who (a) commence their 164W education in the non-maintained sector and (b) move between maintained and non-maintained sectors during their school career. [150086]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe Department is discussing with the Independent Schools Council the possibility of the unique pupil number (UPN) system being extended to pupils in independent schools, although no decisions have yet been taken. For as long as it remains the case that UPNs are allocated only to pupils in the maintained sector:(a) pupils who commence their education in the non-maintained sector will not during that period have a UPN, but will be allocated one by the first maintained school they enter;
(b) pupils who move between maintained and non-maintained sectors during their school career should be allocated a UPN at the beginning of their first spell in the maintained sector and retain that for each subsequent spell, even though the UPN will be inactive during intervening periods in the non-maintained sector. There is inevitably a risk in these cases of the thread being lost, and new UPNs being allocated to pupils who already have one. However, the central pupil database described in my earlier answer, 7 February 2001, Official Report, column 579W, (ref. 148383) will, once established, be able to provide LEAs and schools with a "tracing service" for lost UPNs.