The Department for Education does not allocate specific funding for the teaching of English to pupils with English as an additional language (EAL). The funding arrangements enable local authorities to allocate a proportion of their funding to schools on the basis of local need, including by the number of their pupils with EAL to support their overall education. The per-pupil rate for this funding is decided locally and can therefore reflect local circumstances.

The Department for Education is not directly funding any programmes for the teaching of English to primary school pupils with English as an additional language (EAL). Schools are responsible for ensuring that their provision meets the needs of the range of their pupils, including those with EAL. The school funding arrangements provide flexibility to enable schools and local authorities to respond to their pupils’ needs.

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. A copy of his reply will be placed in the library of the House.

We are reforming the mathematics and English curriculum and qualifications, raising expectations so that they match the best worldwide. The new national curriculum will match those in the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world, challenging pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.

At primary level, we have published a more rigorous curriculum with a greater level of demand. In mathematics, children will know their times tables by age nine and calculators will be removed from the test for 11 year olds to ensure that children get a rigorous grounding in mental and written arithmetic. To support schools, we will continue to fund the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. We also recently announced the establishment of 32 new Maths Hubs, supported with £11 million of funding over the next two years, which will drive up the quality of mathematics education from the early years to age 19.

In the new English national curriculum we have placed a greater focus on grammar, spelling and punctuation, with a new test for 11 year olds. We have strengthened the requirements on learning to read through systematic synthetic phonics, and we have introduced a phonics screening check at age six so that teachers can intervene early to help children catch up.

At secondary level, GCSEs in mathematics and English are also being reformed to be more challenging and give stronger guarantees of numeracy and literacy. We expect schools will increase time spent teaching mathematics—bringing us in line with our international competitors. The recently announced “Progress 8” measure gives double weighting to mathematics and English in performance tables for the first time. For year 7 pupils who have not achieved level 4 at key stage 2 in reading and/or mathematics we will continue to fund the catch-up

premium worth £500 per pupil. This enables secondary schools to deliver additional support, such as individual tuition or intensive support in small groups, for those pupils that most need it.

We are also reforming post-16 education, including A levels in English and mathematics, and have set out our ambition for the majority of young people in England to study mathematics at least to age 18 by 2020. Students without at least a grade C at GCSE in mathematics or English are now required to continue to study the subject. In addition, new core mathematics qualifications are being developed for those students with GCSE grade C or above who do not go on to study A or AS level mathematics.

In addition, we have invested in and reformed initial teacher training to focus on attracting the very best graduates with the right qualities for teaching into the profession through scholarships and bursaries of up to £25,000 in key subjects such as mathematics, and supporting the expansion of the highly-successful Teach First programme.

Key stage 4 results for individual schools, including academies, are published online in Performance Tables.¹ A copy of the list of schools and academies that established a sixth form since 2011, with their current details, has been placed in the House Library.

Available at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/

The following tables show the proportion of 15, 16 and 17 year olds (based on academic age) who had achieved A*-C grade in GCSE English and GCSE mathematics for the last 10 years. The figures cover young people who were in the state sector at academic age 15. Academic age refers to the age at the start of the academic year, so the majority of young people of academic age 15 will be in year 11. The data source used for this analysis does not differentiate between English literature and English language so may include those that have A*-C in either subject.

Tables that show key stage 4 results for English and English literature are available at:

http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised

The requested information is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results in England, 2012 to 2013 (revised)¹” statistical first release. It is available in table 2 in the “National tables: SFR01/2014” document.

40.1% of pupils at the end of key stage 4 did not achieve English and mathematics GCSEs at grade A*-C in 2012/13 academic year compared with 46.0% in 2009/10.¹

Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised

The following tables show the number and proportion of academic age 15-year-olds who did not achieve (a) grades D to G and (b) grades A* to C in GCSE English, mathematics, and both English and mathematics, for the 2004/05 to 2008/09 academic years and tracks them through to academic age 18. Academic age relates to age at the start of the academic year, so academic age 15-year-olds are usually in year 11. The tables also show the number and proportion of these young people who had achieved at least D to G and A*

to C grades by academic age 18. The data shown represents the last five cohorts for whom attainment

data to academic age 18 is available, and is based on young people in the state sector at academic age 15.

The requested information has been provided in the following table:

The Government’s approach is to give school leaders greater power and responsibility to drive improvement in their schools. This provides them with the freedom and flexibility to offer the right learning opportunities for their pupils for whom English is an additional language.

This approach fits within a broader legal context whereby local authorities have a duty to ensure that education is available for all children of compulsory school age that is appropriate to their age, ability, aptitudes and any special educational needs they may have. This duty applies irrespective of a child's immigration status, country of origin or rights of residence in a particular area.

The evidence suggests that effective outcomes for children learning English as an additional language (EAL) are achieved by schools promoting rapid language acquisition so that these pupils can be included in mainstream education as quickly as possible. Pupils learning EAL are generally taught in a mainstream class alongside their peers. Newly arrived pupils are usually given additional help in learning English by specialist teachers or by bilingual classroom assistants.

Advice and case studies on how to help schools address the needs of EAL learners are available on the Department's and Ofsted’s websites.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

The latest information on first language has been published as part of the 'Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012' Statistical First Release at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001071/index.shtml

Information on pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English is shown in the table.

The latest published information on first language is available in the 'Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012' Statistical First Release at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001071/index.shtml

The Department does not collect information on pupils in Wales. This is a devolved matter for the Welsh Assembly.

The Government's priority for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) is to promote rapid language acquisition and include them in mainstream education as quickly as possible. Schools are best placed to know how to achieve this for their pupils.

Local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that education is available for all children of compulsory school age that is appropriate to their age, ability, aptitudes and any special educational needs they may have. This duty applies irrespective of a child's immigration status, country of origin or rights of residence in a particular area. Our reforms of the school funding system from 2013-14 will enable local authorities to continue to allocate funding to pupils with English as an Additional Language for the first three years from the point at which those pupils enter the school system.