Written question asked by Lord Watts (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 October 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 October 2002. It was answered by David Miliband (Labour) on Thursday, 24 October 2002 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what her Department's estimate is of the number of children who have English as an additional language in schools. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's estimate is of the number of children who have English as an additional language in schools. [74958] Mr. Miliband: In January 2002 there were 350,483 or 10.0 per cent. of pupils in maintained primary schools in England whose mother tongue is known or believed to be other than English. The corresponding figure in maintained secondary schools is 282,235 or 8.6 per cent. The collection of data on pupils' ``mother tongue'' through the Annual Schools Census in January 2002 replaced the earlier collection of data on English as an Additional Language.

Secondary information