§ Mr. Liddell-GraingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what percentage of children aged 14 to 18 years are known to have dyslexia; [49025]
(2) what records are kept by local education authorities on dyslexia; [49031]
1127W(3) what steps are taken by the Department to assess children for dyslexia; and at what ages the tests are carried out; [49032]
(4) what (a) research is being carried out into dyslexia and (b) grants are being given by the Government to research organisations with regard to dyslexia in 2002–03; [49035]
(5) how many children aged between 5 to 10 years in the United Kingdom have dyslexia and related learning problems. [49036]
§ Mr. TimmsAs at January 2001, 1,002,000 pupils in English maintained primary schools and 668,000 pupils in English maintained secondary schools had special educational needs (SEN). Of these, 75,300 and 82,100 respectively had statements of SEN.
In addition, 91,000 pupils are in maintained special schools, 87,400 of whom have statements. Information by specific category of SEN is not currently collected but we have conducted a pilot exercise to explore the feasibility of further categorisation without overburdening schools and expect to phase in new arrangements by 2004.
When dealing with dyslexia and other SEN, schools and local education authorities in England are expected to follow the SEN Code of Practice, published last November. LEAs must also publish their general arrangements for identifying and supporting children with SEN. The precise details of arrangements made by LEAs and schools, including record keeping and assessment of needs within the context of the Code, are for local determination and this information is not collected centrally.
Working in conjunction with other interested parties, the Department is currently supporting the SPELL IT project, looking at the impact of structured intervention methods with seven year olds experiencing difficulty with reading. This project is due to report later this year. In 2002–04 we are also supporting research and development in relation to possible applications of jet pilot eye tracking technology as an aid to early identification of dyslexia.