Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the difference between the academic performance of adopted children and that of their peers in (1) GCSEs, and (2) A-levels, over the last five years.

Lord Nash

Estimates of GCSE attainment of former looked after children who have been adopted were published for the first time this year. The statistics were published as experimental statistics because we estimate that they are based on around 30% of all children adopted from care[1]. The estimates show that 22.8% of former looked after children who have been adopted achieved 5 or more A*-C GCSEs or equivalent, including English and mathematics in 2015. This information is published on GOV.UK in the statistical first release “Outcomes for looked after children by local authorities in England: 31 March 2015”[2].

Nationally, 57.1% of children in state funded schools achieved 5 or more A*-C GCSEs or equivalent, including English and mathematics in 2015. These figures are published on GOV.UK in the statistical first release “Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England, 2014 to 2015”[3].

Information on attainment at Key Stage 5 for former looked after children who have been adopted is not available.

[1] These figures were based on children who are identified as adopted (requiring declaration by the parents) in the school census, matched to key stage 4 data

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-las-31-march-2015

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015

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