Archived announcements
REVISIONS - 2010 Secondary School Performance Tables and the Statistical First Release 'GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2009/10 (Revised)' - February 2011Figures for the new indicator giving the percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving English and mathematics GCSE at grades A*-C (the "Basics") were published on 12 January 2011. These figures will have to be revised due to an omission in the qualifications to be included in the indicator.
Figures for schools concerned will be updated during week commencing 21st February 2011 in the 2010 Secondary School Performance Tables. Final figures at national and Local Authority level will be published in mid-April 2011.
During the creation of this indicator there was a misjudgement in the selection of qualifications to be included in the English element: a GCSE in English Studies offered by Edexcel was excluded. The English Studies GCSE is available for pupils to study as part of a pilot which is due to come to an end in 2012 and our intention is to include it in both the 5 A*-C including English and maths GCSE measure and the Basics until that time.
At the national level, it is estimated that including this qualification increases the indicator figure by 0.3 percentage points. However, the inclusion of English Studies in the Basics makes a substantial difference for the small number of schools involved in the pilot.
In addition to the change above, we will also be publishing additional tables in mid-April 2011 to provide final 2010 data for Tables 1, 1b and 2 of the Statistical First Release 'GCSE and Equivalent Results, 2009/10'.
Since 2006, the Statistical First Release for GCSE and Equivalent Results has published revised data only for the most recent results year. After the Secondary School Performance Tables and Statistical First Release are published, schools can request corrections to their data. These corrections are made on an on-going basis to the school level data in the Secondary Performance Tables. For the 2010 Performance Tables, final 'post-errata' data will be provided at national and Local Authority level in mid-April 2011. Final national data for 2009/10 will also be provided for Tables 1, 1b and 2 as additional information to the Statistical First Release on GCSE and Equivalent Results.
DfE: User Consultation - Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom - November 2010
As part of the Department's aim to make its statistics relevant and useful, a user consultation on the "Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom" publication is now being carried out. The survey is available here and users are invited to respond to the survey by 31 December 2010. Further details on how users can contribute to specific reviews, including a list of publications under review, or comment more generally on the whole publication portfolio can be found here.
DfE: User Consultation of School Destinations Bulletin and other Statistical Publications - October 2010
As part of the Department's aim to make its statistics relevant and useful, a user consultation on the 'School Destinations of Secondary School Pupils Resident in London Boroughs' publication is now being carried out. The survey is available here and users are invited to respond before the survey closes on 12 November. Further details on how users can contribute to specific reviews, including a list of publications under review, or comment more generally on the whole publication portfolio can be found here.
DfE: Young people aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, 2000-01 to 2009-10 - October 2010
This release will provide local level information on the number and rate of young people aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, 2000-01 to 2009-10. The Ministry of Justice has now taken responsibility for publishing these figures on youth crime. Therefore this publication will be released at 09:30 on 14 October.
DfE: Parental Experience of Services for Disabled Children 2010-11 - October 2010
This publication sets out the main findings from the third national sample survey of parents of disabled children in England. Following consultation with the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that the survey that informs this publication should cease. This decision reflects the Coalition Government's commitment to reduce centrally imposed data burdens and to free up resources for front line services. As part of a Call for Views to inform a Special Educational Needs and Disability Green Paper Ministers have today called for views on how to strengthen the process for ensuring parents' views affect the services their family receives locally. The Statistical Release scheduled for publication in November has therefore been cancelled and no further editions are planned.
DfE: Percentage of schools providing access to extended services - August 2010
This publication supports measurement of the previous government's National Indicator 88 (percentage of schools providing access to extended services). The edition published in June 2010 showed that 98% of schools are providing access to the full range of extended services. There has been no consultation with users; the impact on users is expected to be limited though as the actual percentage is close to the target. Following consultation with the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that from 6 September, Local Authorities will no longer need to collect and submit data to support NI88. The Statistical Release scheduled for publication in October has therefore been cancelled and no further editions are planned.
DfE: GCSE and Equivalent Results in England - August 2010
The Statistical First Release (SFR) on GCSE and Equivalent Results will be published on 21 October 2010. Users are invited to comment on the proposal to include international GCSEs (iGCSEs) in this and related publications. Comments should be sent to our Statistical Attainment mailbox by 8 September. Comments are requested by this date because the Department's checking exercise commences later in September when schools are asked to check the results prior to their inclusion in the school performance tables.
Department for Education (DfE) statisticians propose to include international GCSEs (iGCSEs) in:
- the SFR for 2009/10 in October 2010; this will contain provisional national and local authority results,
- the SFR for 2009/10 in January 2011; this will contain revised national and local authority results, and
- the school performance tables for 2009/10 in January 2011; this will contain revised school results.
- "Legacy" iGCSEs i.e. those achieved by students in 2010 which have been accredited at the time the data are collated for publication, will be included.
- iGCSEs in English, First Language English and English Language will be counted in the English and Maths component, but iGCSE English Literature will not.
- Ofqual's subject matter expert advice will be followed on which iGCSEs are suitable for the Language and Science indicators.
On 7 June, DfE Ministers lifted restrictions that stopped state schools offering iGCSE qualifications in key subjects and announced their intention to include iGCSE results in school performance tables as soon as possible.
DfE: User Consultation of Statistical Publications - September 2010
DfE aims to make its statistics relevant and useful. To meet these aims the Department is carrying out user consultations to review a number of statistical publications. Further details on how users can contribute to specific reviews, including a list of publications under review, or comment more generally on the whole publication portfolio can be found here.
Financial reports on Local Authority planned budgets for their education and children's social care functions: 2010-11 (section 251 formerly s52) and the Benchmarking Tables of Local Authority Planned Expenditure 2010-11. - September 2010
These publications have been delayed. The Department is planning to put back the publication date from Thursday, 9 September to Thursday, 16 September. The Department requires extra time to overcome a technical issue it has encountered in the processing of the 152 local authority Section 251 Budget 2010-11 returns and their resubmissions. This issue has led to delay in providing a quality assured dataset to the Department's analysts who are preparing the financial reports and benchmarking tables. Officials have to overcome the technical issue, quality assure the solution and reissue the dataset to the analysts before the statistics can be published.
DfE: Decommissioning of the TiES website - September 2010
As part of the Department's rationalisation of its web content, it is the Data Services Group's intention to decommission the Trends in Education and Skills (TiES) website (www.dcsf.gov.uk/trends). Key data from the website will be migrated to the Department's In Your Area website (www.dcsf.gov.uk/inyourarea).
If you have any comments or questions about the planned decommissioning please feel free to contact Martin Johnson on 01325 735433 or email Trends.Feedback@education.gsi.gov.uk.
DfE: Attainment and Finance data for Primary Schools and Attainment and Finance data for Secondary Schools - July 2010
The Department for Education (DfE) has now completed the further quality assurance required on these data sets, originally planned for publication on 14 July 2010. They will now be published on 29 July 2010 in both Excel and csv format. Enquiries regarding this announcement can be emailed to Attainment Statistics.
DfE: Withdrawal of Statistical First Release on GCE/VCE A/AS and Equivalent Attainment by Pupil Characteristics in Schools in England 2008/09 (Provisional) - June 2010
This SFR which provides 2008/09 figures on the attainment by characteristics at Key Stage 5 was originally scheduled for publication in February 2010. In January, we placed a note on the Research and Statistics Gateway letting readers know that this publication was under review and would be delayed. The review was prompted by concerns over coverage and relevance.
Following consultation with users and consideration of the limitations of the data, the responsible statistician has decided to withdraw this publication. Data for earlier years can be found here. Interested users can still obtain information on this subject by contacting us at this e-mail address
DfE: Delay in publication of Statistical Bulletin on Youth Cohort Study and Longitudinal Study of Young People in England: The Activities and Experiences of 18 year olds: England 2009 - June 2010
The Department for Education (DfE) previously announced the forthcoming publication of the Statistical Bulletin Youth Cohort Study and Longitudinal Study of Young People in England: The Activities and Experiences of 18 year olds: England 2009 for 17 June 2010. This publication has now been delayed.
Although the Department's Schedule for the Publication of National and Official Statistics April 2010 to March 2011 gave June 2010 as the publication date, additional time is required to complete appropriate quality assurance of the publication prior to its release. This quality assurance includes requirements that were introduced after the original publication date was agreed which, alongside resource constraints amongst key officials, has caused additional time to be required. The publication will therefore be delayed until July 22 2010 to allow this work to be completed.
DfE: Publication of data for the new Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies - June 2010
The Department for Education has produced a number of key statistics based on the new Westminster Parliamentary Constituency boundaries. These statistics are now available on the Department's In Your Area website, the data includes Key Stage 2 and GCSE results, numbers of teachers and teaching assistants, pupil teacher ratios and class sizes. Changes have also been made to the site to display a five year time series of data. Data can be accessed using the interactive maps, postcode search or directly using the "England results by" link on the homepage.
DCSF: Changes in reporting of National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England 2010: Introduction of science sampling - April 2010
In May 2009 the Government accepted in full the recommendations of the Expert Group on Assessment, a group comprising head teachers and assessment experts. The group recommended that, while Key Stage 2 science tests had played an important role in supporting improvements in teaching and learning, they should now be discontinued. From 2010, Key stage 2 science at school level will therefore be assessed by teacher assessment only, which takes greater account of pupils' practical grasp of the subject and is based on their attainment throughout the academic year across the full programme of study. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families announced that, in order to monitor national standards in science, a new externally marked, sample test would be introduced. The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) will administer the test in May 2010. The proportion of students attaining level 4 or above and level 5 in this sample test will be reported in a Statistical Release to be published on this website in the summer.
Further information on the technical and methodological details of the science sampling arrangements can be found here.
Publication of Statistical First Release on Admission Appeals for Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools In England
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) publishes a Statistical First Release (SFR) on "Admission Appeals for Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools in England" in May each year. This SFR contains information on appeals lodged against non-admission of children to schools and the outcome of these appeals.
The publication of information for 2007/08 has been delayed. Although the Department's Schedule for the Publication of National and Official Statistics April 2009 to March 2010 gave May 2009 as the publication date, verified data enabling the analysis of admission appeals will not be available until late May. The publication will therefore be delayed until June. Once a publication date has been confirmed it will be announced on this website.
Publication of Class Size Information
Readers will be aware that the publication of information on class sizes, originally scheduled to be published as part of the Statistical First Release "Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics", was delayed due to issues with the data.
These issues have been resolved and the tables on class size, accompanied by a short commentary, have now been published and can be accessed as additional tables to the SFR.
Local Authority data will be published as additional tables in July
Announcement of change to publication schedule for NEET Statistics: Quarterly Brief
The publication of estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for quarter 1 2009 of the number and proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) have been brought forward to 23 June 2009.
These estimates were due to be published in August in the series "NEET Statistics: Quarterly Brief", which sets out the available statistics on young people NEET including the latest estimates from the LFS. Estimates for quarter 1 would have been published alongside quarter 2 estimates in August to avoid a conflict with the Statistical First Release (SFR) on "Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 year olds" published on 16 June. This SFR contains the latest estimate of the number and percentage of young people NEET derived from a combination of administrative data sources and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The SFR is used to measure progress towards the NEET Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to reduce the percentage of young people NEET by 2 percentage points by 2010.
The publication schedule for "NEET statistics: quarterly brief" for the next 12 months is as follows:
| Month | Data |
|---|---|
| August 2009 | Quarter 2 2009 LFS NEET estimates |
| November 2009 | Quarter 3 2009 LFS NEET estimates |
| February 2010 | Quarter 4 2009 LFS NEET estimates |
| May 2010 | Quarter 1 2010 LFS NEET estimates |