§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what subject qualifications a teacher requires to teach(a) mathematics, (b) English and (c) science at (i) Key Stage I, (ii) Key Stage II, (iii) Key Stage III, (iv) Key Stage IV and (v) AS/A2 level. [138533]
§ Mr. MilibandThe deployment of teachers and other school staff is a matter for the professional judgment of headteachers.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many lessons in(a) mathematics, (b) science and (c) English were identified in the 2003 Curriculum and Staffing Survey as being taught by teachers without a subject-specific qualification in the subject being taught. [138536]
§ Mr. MilibandIn the November 2002 Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey, 13 per cent. of mathematics; 8 per cent. of combined/general science; and 11 per cent. of English periods were taught to year groups 7 to 13 by full time teachers without a post A-level qualification in the subject being taught. The data underpinning these percentages are still undergoing thorough validation. Estimates of the total number of periods taught by full time teachers to year groups 7 to 13 by subject will be published in the statistical volume "School Workforce in England (2003 edition)".
561W
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken to ensure that teachers without formal qualifications in(a) mathematics, (b) science and (c) English receive professional development to teach these subjects. [138537]
§ Mr. MilibandThrough the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, the Government are already offering comprehensive support and training for the teaching of English and maths in primary schools. The Key Stage 3 Strategy provides similar support for subject knowledge and professional development for teachers teaching English, maths and science in secondary schools.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of additional(a) mathematics, (b) science and (c) English teachers that would need to be recruited if all lessons at Key Stage III and Key Stage IV were to be taught by teachers with a formal qualification in the appropriate subject.[138538]
§ Mr. MilibandMy right hon. Friend has made no such estimate. However, the financial incentives and new routes to Qualified Teacher Status that the Government has created are bringing specialists in these subjects into teaching in record numbers. Figures published by the Teacher Training Agency on 10 November showed that, in the last five years, the number of recruits to conventional undergraduate and postgraduate courses of initial teacher training and the employment-based Graduate Teacher Programme has risen in mathematics by 91 per cent, in English by 33 per cent, and in science by 40 per cent. In these subjects alone, there have been almost 2,700 more recruits to training so far this year than in 1998–99.
In addition to these huge gains, the widely welcomed remodelling of the school workforce that the Government and its partners are tak'ng forward will enable all subject specialists to use their knowledge to the maximum benefit of learners in the classroom.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many newly qualified teachers who registered on the database of teacher records in each of the last three years for which figures are available had degrees in psychology. [138539]
§ Mr. MilibandThe table shows the number of teachers who qualified in England in each of the calendar years shown with psychology as a subject of their first degree.
Calendar year Psychology as a subject of first degree1 2000 720 2001 850 20022 870 1Includes those with psychology as either a first or second subject of first degree, excluding those whose first degree is their initial teacher training degree. 2 Data for 2002 are provisional. The number of completers in this year may be undercounted. Source
Database of Teacher Records