Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 18 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 January 2010. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 25 January 2010 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

GCSE

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of 15 year olds entitled to free school meals achieved five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics in each local authority in 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The requested information is given in Table 5 of the Statistical First Release 'GCSE Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2008/09' which was published on 15 December 2009 at:"http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000900/index.shtml""Note:""These figures relate to all pupils at the end of key stage 4 rather than 15-year-olds."Breaking the link between disadvantage and low attainment is a national priority. To ensure we meet this priority, Public Sector Agreement 11 (PSA) specifically focuses on narrowing the gap between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Local authorities must set statutory attainment targets, in line with PSA 11, that amongst other things, increases the proportion of children eligible for free school meals achieving five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics. The performance of local authorities to date in narrowing attainment gaps is variable, depending on many circumstances including the starting point of children in that authority. All LA targets will be reviewed to ensure they are ambitious but realistic.

Secondary information