Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been of the roll-out of the English Baccalaureate to date; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The English Baccalaureate measure was introduced in 2010. The EBacc defines an academic core of subjects, including GCSEs in English, maths, science, humanities, and languages. Schools have been able to deliver significant increases in the take up of EBacc subjects over the last 5 years without requiring additional funding to do so.

EBacc entry has increased significantly, from 22% in 2010 to 39% in 2015. EBacc achievement has also increased, from 15% in 2010 to 24% in 2015.

The Department funds a range of support for teachers including 35 maths hubs which support maths teachers, the National Science Learning Network to provide high quality professional development for science teachers and the Network of Excellence for computing to provide professional development for computing teachers through a network of master teachers. English teachers have benefitted from the funding provided to the Royal Shakespeare Company, who produced and provided to all state-funded secondary schools a free copy of its RSC Shakespeare Toolkit for Teachers, and Poetry by Heart to help teachers deliver inspirational poetry teaching.