Written question asked by Chris Skidmore (Conservative) on Monday, 17 January 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 January 2011. It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 February 2011 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Pupils: English Language

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils there were where English was an additional language in the last 12 months.

Answer: In January 2010 the number of pupils of compulsory school age and above (age as at 31 August) whose first language was known or believed to be other than English was 518,020 in local authority maintained primary schools and 378,220 in state-funded secondary schools.This information can be found in table 5 in the Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2010 Statistical First Release at:"http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000925/index.shtml"

Secondary information