Dear Neil, Following conversations with your team, I am happy to confirm the exemption from the Code of Practice for Statistics’ standard publication time of 9.30am to permit a later release time of noon each Tuesday for attendance in education and early years settings during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic statistics. We welcome your decision to […]
Dear Neil CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) ATTENDANCE IN EDUCATION AND EARLY YEARS SETTINGS I am writing to endorse the approach taken by DfE in the recent publication of data on attendance in education and early years settings during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. I would like to congratulate everyone involved for their work to produce these timely and valuable statistics […]
Dear Neil STATISTICS ON SCHOOL FUNDING IN ENGLAND I am writing to you to summarise the Office for Statistics Regulation’s review of the Department for Education’s new experimental statistics on school funding. Overall, these new statistics are very welcome, addressing a gap in the provision of official statistics on schools and helping support informed debate. […]
Dear Neil, We have received a query about your Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) release. Thank you for the help your team has provided as we have been looking into this query. Having reviewed the latest release, I share some of the concerns raised with us and would like you to consider the methods […]
Ed Humpherson writes to Neil McIvor, DfE, on higher education participation rates, 4 November 2019.
Dear Ed, DFE USE OF STATISTICS Thank you for your letter of 30 May. I continue to take the matter of good and proper use of statistics very seriously, and I appreciate the work you and your teams have been undertaking with DfE officials over the last few months. As you have recognised, we have […]
Dear Jonathan, Department for Education funding statistics I am writing following our correspondence in the autumn. Since then, I have been encouraged by the steps you and your colleagues have taken to improve your communication of statistics – for example by improving the process which ensures statements released by the Department for Education are cleared […]
Dear Neil Department for Education funding statistics I am writing following our correspondence last year (1)(2). As you know, I welcome the improvements made to enhance the quality and trustworthiness of statements released by the Department for Education, and the ongoing work to improve the value of your statistics, through the development of the Department’s […]
Dear Neil NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT RATE TABLES (NARTs) I am writing to you following the FE Week article[1] published on 5th April 2019 – ‘Investigation by statistics watchdog after ESFA lists “unreliable” providers’. The article outlined the reporting of the 2017/18 National Achievement Rate Tables (NARTs)[2] and questioned the decision to include 34 providers with ‘unreliable […]
Dear Mike Compliance check of Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments in England We recently carried out a compliance check against the Code of Practice for Statistics[1] on Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments in England[2]. I am pleased to confirm that these statistics can continue to be designated as […]