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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for what reason the Office for National Statistics did not supply sufficient data to the OECD for their 2003 PISA survey; and if he will make a statement; [203174] (2) which official in his Department was responsible for collating data for the OECD PISA survey 2003. [203176] Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 8 December 2004: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to two of your recent Parliamentary Questions on the 2003 PISA survey. (203174 and 203176) PISA is a survey co-ordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which was conducted in 41 countries in 2003. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) conducted the survey in England and Wales on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency in Northern Ireland on behalf of Department of Education, Northern Ireland. The survey in Scotland was conducted by the Scottish Centre for Research in Education on behalf of the Scottish Executive. The survey involves a two-hour written assessment, as well as completion of a questionnaire by a representative sample of students aged 15. In the UK, PISA depends on the voluntary co- operation of both schools and students. Compared with other surveys conducted through schools, PISA is quite disruptive as it takes a long time to complete and is conducted in the Spring term when schools are preparing for examinations. Minimum criteria for response rates are set by OECD, and the response rates in the UK, in particular in England, fell short of the required minimum. ONS conducted the survey according to current best practice and, with the DfES, made every effort to persuade schools to participate. In spite of this, the survey response rates fell short of the threshold set by the OECD. As National Statistician, ultimately I am responsible for all work of the Office for National Statistics.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

428 c535-6W; 203174;203176

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Assessments Data processing Pupils OECD countries Office for National Statistics Standards Surveys Programme for International Student Assessment

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk