Pupils: Languages
Education and Skills
Written answers and statements, 21 May 2007
Malcolm Moss (North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all schools are required to report to his Department the first language of all their pupils.
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and 14-19 Learners), Department for Education and Skills; South Dorset, Labour)
The School Census collects first language information at pupil level from primary, secondary and all special schools, as well as academies and city technology colleges (CTCs), in accordance with section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Totals of all pupils recorded as having English as an additional language (EAL) are also collected from Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), in accordance with section 29 of the Education Act 1996 and section 42 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The requirement is for these schools to report the first language of all pupils of compulsory school age and above.