HC Deb 21 January 2002 vol 378 cc585-6W
Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils there were aged 15 years broken down by ethnic group; what were the average percentage GCSE/GNVQ results of(a) over 5A* to C, (b) over 5A* to G and (c) no passes; what was the average number of (i) authorised and (ii) unauthorised absences for each English parliamentary constituency in the academic year 2000–01; and if she will make a statement. [28958]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

The overall number of pupils in maintained secondary schools broken down by ethnic group is given in the following table; there are no figures for individual ages.

Maintained secondary schools: number of pupils by ethnic group England—January 2000
Number
White 2,780,167
Black—Caribbean 44,561
Black—African 37,466
Black—Other 25,397
Indian 83,177
Pakistani 76,131
Bangladeshi 29,876
Chinese 12,318
Any other minority group 79,259
Unclassified 63,475
Total 3,231,827

The primary source of information on GCSE attainment by ethnic group is the Youth Cohort Study (YCS). The YCS is run in alternate years and estimates from the latest survey are provided in the following table.

GCSE/GNVQ achievements by ethnic group England and Wales—1998–99
Percentage
5+ Grades A*-C 5+ Grades A*-G No passes reported
White 50 91 4
Black 39 86 5
Indian 60 95 1
Pakistani 29 91 4
Bangladeshi 29 88 5
Other Asian 72 93 4
Other minority group 43 89 9
Not stated 26 66 23
Total 49 91 5
1 Not available (too small sample size)

Note:

Estimates exclude pupils in special schools

Neither of the breakdowns is available for parliamentary constituencies.

The data collected on authorised and unauthorised absences do not include ethnic group.