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01/07/2004
More schools attain specialist status
Nearly 2,000 secondary schools have now attained specialist status following the largest round of designations yet.
Specialist status allows a school to extend the range of opportunities available to students which best meet their needs and interests. Exam results show that specialist schools do better on average than non-specialists - in 2003, 56.7% of pupils in specialist schools achieved five good grades at GCSE compared to 49.2% in non-specialists - a difference of 7.5 percentage points.
The last round saw 268 schools successfully gain specialist status in the 10 subject specialisms. This means that 62% of all secondary schools and 2.1 million pupils are now part of a programme promoting and delivering school improvement.
Welcoming the further expansion of the specialist programme Secretary of State for Education and Skills Charles Clarke said: "The facts speak for themselves - specialists schools do better than other schools.
"Specialists schools are a mass movement to raise standards in every school delivering better results for every single pupil.
"Each school is encouraged to develop their own ethos and a clear sense of responsibility for shaping its own future and I am delighted that today's figures show we are moving faster towards our target of all schools becoming specialist."
Sir Cyril Taylor Chair of the Specialist Schools Trust said: "We are delighted that so many specialist school bids were successful. This unique partnership of private sector sponsorship in support of state schools is transforming secondary education in England."
A total of 1,954 schools have been awarded specialist status after the March bidding round. They include specialisms in arts, business & enterprise, engineering, humanities, language, maths & computing, music, science, sports, and technology.
(gmcg)
Specialist status allows a school to extend the range of opportunities available to students which best meet their needs and interests. Exam results show that specialist schools do better on average than non-specialists - in 2003, 56.7% of pupils in specialist schools achieved five good grades at GCSE compared to 49.2% in non-specialists - a difference of 7.5 percentage points.
The last round saw 268 schools successfully gain specialist status in the 10 subject specialisms. This means that 62% of all secondary schools and 2.1 million pupils are now part of a programme promoting and delivering school improvement.
Welcoming the further expansion of the specialist programme Secretary of State for Education and Skills Charles Clarke said: "The facts speak for themselves - specialists schools do better than other schools.
"Specialists schools are a mass movement to raise standards in every school delivering better results for every single pupil.
"Each school is encouraged to develop their own ethos and a clear sense of responsibility for shaping its own future and I am delighted that today's figures show we are moving faster towards our target of all schools becoming specialist."
Sir Cyril Taylor Chair of the Specialist Schools Trust said: "We are delighted that so many specialist school bids were successful. This unique partnership of private sector sponsorship in support of state schools is transforming secondary education in England."
A total of 1,954 schools have been awarded specialist status after the March bidding round. They include specialisms in arts, business & enterprise, engineering, humanities, language, maths & computing, music, science, sports, and technology.
(gmcg)
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Specialist schools are performing better than other schools in England, a report by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) has reported. The education watchdog found that pupils in specialist schools have performed better at GCSEs since 1998 and the rate of improvement in GCSE results was also faster in these schools.
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GCSE results continue to show improvement
Today's GCSE/GNVQ performance tables have revealed that specialist schools outperformed non-specialist schools and schools facing challenging circumstances improved at double the national rate, the government claimed today. According to today's tables, the overall percentage of pupils receiving good grades at GCSE has improved – a 1.
29 January 2004
More schools gained 'specialist' status
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.
