Clause 40
11:30 am
Nick Gibb (Shadow Minister, Children, Schools and Families; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative)
I do not accept that argument. The amendment does not include subjects such as economics, but does contain subjects that are an entitlement for children up to 16 in the pre-sixth-form stages of secondary school. If maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, a modern language or English are not offered in a school as a whole, it is not complying with the law. It should therefore be a minimum requirement for such subjects to be offered in the sixth form. If we believe in spreading opportunity across all social classes and all income backgrounds, we have to give people in the state sector the same opportunities as those offered to students in the independent sector.