HC Deb 24 October 2002 vol 391 c472W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of GCSE candidates achieved five or more A* to C grades in each year from 1987 to 2002; and if she will make a statement on the reasons underlying the change in performance. [75261]

Mr. Miliband

The information requested is shown in the Table below:

Percentage of 15 year old pupils achieving 5 or more grades A*-C at GCSE/GNVQ in schools in England
%
1986–87 26.4
1987–88 29.9
1988–89 32.8
1989–90 34.5
1990–91 36.8
1991–92 38.3
1992–93 41.2
1993–94 43.3
1994–95 43.5
1995–96 44.5
1996–97 45.1
1997–98 46.3
1998–99 47.9
1999–00 49.2
2000–01 50.0
2001–02 (Early Statistics) 51.2

Sources:

1986–87—1987–88 School Leavers Survey

1988–89—1990–91 School Examinations Survey

1991–92 onwards Data collected for Secondary School Performance Tables

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the average proportion of GCSE marks accounted for by coursework; and if she will make a statement. [75262]

Mr. Miliband

The proportion of coursework and examination assessment of GCSEs varies between individual subjects and awarding body specifications. The weighting of coursework for academic subjects varies between 20–40 per cent.; for practical subjects between 40–60 per cent.; in the case of the eight new GCSEs in vocational subjects introduced in September 2002, the coursework weighting is 67 per cent., with the exception of Applied ICT, where the coursework weighting is 67–85 per cent.