SCHOOLS focus too much on giving pupils factual information about drugs rather than helping them develop the personal skills and attitudes they need to make sensible decisions, according to inspectors.

Pupils are rarely consulted about the development of drugs policies, a survey published this week by the Office for Standards in Education says. Only a fifth of primaries and 45 per cent of secondaries consult, missing an opportunity to build their policies and programmes on pupils’ knowledge and experience, say inspectors.

But they identified a “considerable improvement” in the number of primary and special schools with policies on drug-related incidents. In the past two years primary figures have risen from 42 per cent to 62 per cent, while secondaries remain at 95 per cent.

The vast majority of schools (80 per cent primary, 96 per cent secondary and nearly 90 per cent special) now have drug education policies. In nearly all infant lessons, and 80 per cent of junior and secondary lessons, pupils achieve adequate or better knowledge of drugs and their effects.

What is lacking is the time and opportunity for youngsters to develop the values, attitudes and skills they need to respond to drugs, says Ofsted. Overall, 42 per cent of secondary pupils were offered drugs last year, rising to 66 per cent of 15-year-olds, according to the Department of Health.

Most secondaries (70 per cent) now employ specialists to teach about drugs, in recognition that it is unrealistic to expect all form tutors to be up-to-date on the subject. Special schools are making good use of classroom assistants.

However, secondaries that do use form tutors to deliver their programmes are least likely to observe their teaching - making it impossible to tell if they are meeting all pupils’ needs. A significant minority of all schools are not evaluating the effectiveness of their drug education programmes, and for primaries the figure has fallen from 75 per cent in 2000 to only 69 per cent.

The report, which draws on a representative sample of 1,200 schools in 25 local education authorities, is an update of a similar survey carried out two years ago. It says that changes in the way data is collected make it difficult to compare young people’s drug use over time - but that recent surveys indicate a decrease in misuse.

* Five 15 and 16-year-olds have been excluded from pound;6,600-a-year Bradford grammar school, after smoking cannabis on a school trip to First World War battlefields.

Drug Education in Schools: An Update, see www.ofsted.gov.ukpublicindex.htm The report, which draws on a representative sample of 1,200 schools in 25 local education authorities, notes that changes in the way data is collected make it difficult to compare young people’s drug use over time - but that recent surveys indicate a decrease in misuse.

FACTFILE

Department of Health statistics on 11 to 15-year-olds show that in 2001:

* 12 per cent had used drugs in the last month, 20 per cent in the last year.

* 6 per cent of 11-year-olds and 39 per cent of 15-year-olds had taken drugs.

* Cannabis was the most used illicit drug (13 per cent) followed by solvents (7 per cent). Heroin and cocaine scored 1 per cent each.

* Boys (44 per cent) were more likely to be offered drugs than girls (39 per cent).