HC Deb 18 June 2003 vol 407 cc314-5W
Mr. Peter Duncan

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many rural small schools have closed in England in each year since 1997. [119343]

Mr. Miliband

The Department does not have reliable data on the number of rural school closures for individual years before 1998. Following the introduction of the presumption against closure in 1998, the number of rural small schools approved for closure is as follows:

1998 5
1999 2
2000 2
2001 3
2002 3
2003 3

The Department defines a small primary school as one with fewer than 200 pupils and a small secondary school as one with fewer than 600 pupils.

Cost of producing school and college performance data 2002
£ million
Data Cost
(a) Primary school performance tables of achievements in Key Stage 2 tests 0.9
(b) Secondary school performance tables of achievements in Key Stage 3 tests n/a
(c) Secondary school performance tables of achievements in GCSE examinations and vocational qualifications 1.98
(d) School and college performance tattles of achievements in A/AS examinations and vocational qualifications n/a
(e) Pilot tables testing the calculation and presentation of a Key Stage 2-GCSE/GNVQ value added measure 0.15
(f) Tables testing the reporting of achievements in all approved qualifications at age 16 n/a

Notes:

1. The figures shown above are programme costs and do not include departmental staff costs.

2. The secondary school performance tables of achievements in Key Stage 3 tests were published alongside the secondary school performance tables of achievements in GCSE examinations and vocational qualifications.

3. The secondary school performance tables of achievements in GCSE examinations and vocational qualifications and the school and college performance tables of achievements in A/AS examinations and vocational qualifications are managed as one exercise so there are no separate costings.

4. The tables testing the reporting of achievements in all approved qualifications at age 16 will be piloted in 2003.

Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost of producing school and college performance tables was in 2003, including(a) data collection and analysis, (b) production, (c) publication and (d) distribution. [117874]

Mr. Miliband

[holding answer 9 June 2003]: The breakdown of the cost of producing the most recent (2002) school and college performance data is as follows:

Breakdown of cost of producing school and college performance data 2002
£ million
Data Cost
Data collection and analysis 0.8
Production 12.05
Publication 0.09
Distribution 0.09
1This figure was higher in 2002 because of the need to carry out additional confirmations of results.

Notes:

1. The figures shown above are programme costs and do not include departmental staff costs.