Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Chorley (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 22 January 2008.

Schools: Geography

Question: My Lords, a key finding of the report is that the quality of teaching at key stage 3 continues to be mediocre because most of it is done by non-specialists. Does the Minister agree that a worrying consequence of that is that the quality and numbers of young people going on to take geography at GCSE are adversely affected? This is a major concern of the Royal Geographical Society—I declare a rather ancient interest as a former president—and it is of course a major focus of the Government’s action plan for geography. Therefore, the Minister’s announcement that he has accepted Ofsted’s recommendation that funding should continue will be widely welcomed in those quarters.

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord is right: the geography community is very grateful for the continuation of the funding of the geography action plan. I should stress that there are 870 training places for geography this year, so a large number of new entrants to the profession are coming forward. Although the noble Lord is right to say that the numbers of those taking geography have been declining, it remains the fifth most popular optional GCSE subject, after English literature, history, French and art and design. It remains very popular in schools.

Secondary information