Vernon Coaker (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; Gedling, Labour)

This is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to my right hon. Friend and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Libraries.

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 23 October 2009:

Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.

Ofsted does not have a judgement which relates directly to 'respect for others'. The inspection judgement that most closely approximates to 'respect for others' is 'The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development'. In forming the judgement, inspectors take account of:

Learners' response to spiritual and moral issues, such as their attitudes to bullying, and their effective discussion in lessons

the quality of learners' social development as expressed through their relationships with their peers and with adults

learners' understanding of Britain as a diverse society and their readiness to engage with others from a different cultural background

the extent to which they embrace the shared values of the community and contribute to its cohesiveness.

Under the school inspection frameworks used between January 2000 and August 2005 (commonly known as section 10), the school's overall effectiveness judgement was made using a seven point scale: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, poor and very poor. From September 2005 to September 2009, the overall effectiveness judgement was made under the school inspection framework commonly known as Section 5, using a four point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate. It is not possible to operate a simple read-across approach from 2000 to the present, using these different systems.

The latest period for which published figures are available is the spring term 2008/09. This answer, therefore, takes into account all inspections carried out prior to 3 April 2009. At that time, there were still some schools that had not yet been inspected under the section 5 framework.

For the purposes of answering this question, excellent or very good are interpreted as being analogous to outstanding as defined under the Section 5 inspection framework.

Of all the schools open on 4 April 2009 and having received an Ofsted inspection, 35% were judged as outstanding under section 5, or as excellent or very good under section 10, at their last inspection in respect of 'the extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development'.

Of all Roman Catholic schools open on 4 April 2009 and having received an Ofsted inspection, 51% were judged as outstanding under section 5, or as excellent or very good under section 10, at their last inspection in respect of 'the extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development'.

A copy of this reply has been sent to Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and placed in the library of both Houses.