§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the recommended amount of preparation time is for year 5 pupils taking SATs exams. [72827]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 24 July 2002]: There are no statutory National Curriculum tests for pupils in Year 5. Neither is there any recommended preparation time for any National Curriculum test. It is for Headteachers to decide how to prepare their pupils for the tests. The QCA advises schools to prepare children for the tests by providing them with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the layout and design of test papers, encouraging them to work independently and be aware that there may be questions in the tests that they will not he able to answer.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hours(a) AS level, (b) A level and (c) GCSE students spend on average in (i) exams and (ii) mock exams. [72826]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 24 July 2002]: Students taking typical 4 AS subject programmes spend about 12 hours in examinations, not counting resits. The equivalent figure for students completing the second half of the new A levels in 3 subjects is 9 hours. GCSE students spent an average of 17 hours in examinations. These figures mask large variations in individual student programmes.
No statistics are available for the number of hours spent in mock examinations for any of these qualifications.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the recommended amount of preparation time is for Key Stage(a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 SATs exams. [72828]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding reply 24 July 2002]: There is no recommended preparation time for any National Curriculum test. It is for Headteachers to decide how to prepare their pupils for the tests. The QCA advises schools to prepare children for the tests by providing them with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the layout and design of test papers, encouraging them to work independently and be aware that there may be questions in the tests that they will not be able to answer.
Maintained Primary schools: percentage of children eligible for a free school meal England Position in January each year Percentage Type of school (2) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 (provisional) Foundation Schools(1) n/a n/a n/a 12.0 11.3 11.2 Voluntary Aided Schools 18.5 17.3 16.3 15.3 14.4 13.9 Specialist Schools (3) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Voluntary Controlled Schools 13.6 12.5 11.9 11.3 10.7 10.3
114W
Maintained Secondary schools: percentage of children eligible for a free school meal England Position in January each year Percentage Type of school (2) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 (provisional) Foundation Schools(1) n/a n/a n/a 10.9 10.4 9.9 Voluntary Aided Schools 19.1 18.3 17.5 14.7 14.0 13.2
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much time(a) Key Stage 1 SATs exams, (b) Key Stage 2 SATs exams and (c) Key Stage 3 SATs exams take on average (i) per pupil and (ii) per school. [72825]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 24 July 2002]: Key Stage 2 The National Curriculum tests at Key Stage 2 in English, mathematics and science are timetabled to take 5 hours and 15 minutes spread over a week.
Key Stage 3
The National Curriculum tests at Key Stage 3 in English, mathematics and science are timetabled to take 7 hours and 20 minutes spread over a week.
All children in the school will usually take the tests at the same time.
Key Stage 1
The Key Stage 1 tasks and tests are not timed. It is the responsibility of teachers to decide both the timing of the assessments and whether to administer the tests and tasks to whole classes, smaller groups of pupils or on an individual basis.