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Literacy And Numeracy Standards

Volume 976: debated on Thursday 20 December 1979

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asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number of children who left full-time education in (a) 1978, and (b) the current year, with reading and writing abilities insufficient to enable them to cope with the requirements of everyday life.

My Department does not have information which would enable such estimates to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number of children who left full-time education in (a) 1978, and (b) the current year, without either O-levels or CSEs in (i) English, and (ii) mathematics.

I regret that information is not readily available on the numbers of school leavers in England who had not obtained a graded result at O-level or CSE in English and mathematics. However, in 1977–78 the numbers of school leavers who had not attempted O-level or CSE in English and mathematics were 135,420 and 178,740 respectively. Information for the current year is not yet available.