Speeches

Baroness Rebuck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Rebuck on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the requirement for all learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 to continue to study those subjects post-16 since its introduction.

Lord Nash

We publish analysis on English and maths attainment by students aged 16 to 18 who did not achieve A* to C by the end of key stage 4 in an annual experimental Statistical First Release. The latest release (relating to 2013/14) is attached and also available online. [1]

The next publication will provide data relating to 2014/15, the first year of the English and maths requirement.

The English and maths requirement has had a positive effect on attainment. In 2015, for 17-year-olds and over, entries in maths were up 30% while English entries rose by 23%. Last year there were over 4,000 more passes in English by students aged 17 and over and over 7,500 more maths passes.

We also monitor in-year management information returns from further education institutions. In 2014/15, 97% of 16 to 19-year-olds without GCSE A*-C English and/or maths attending an FE institution continued their study of these subjects.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-1-and-2-english-and-maths-16-to-18-students-2013-to-2014.