Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the details of the review the Department is undertaking regarding assistive technologies for disabled students provided through the Disabled Students’ Allowances grant.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department keeps all support funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance under regular review to ensure that it continues to meets the needs of disabled students. Any future proposals will be communicated publicly.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on (a) student numbers and (b) research funding in the UK higher education sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with a Chinese counterpart on student numbers in UK higher education (HE). Policy for HE research funding for England is the responsibility of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). UK Research and Innovation, which falls under DSIT's remit, is the biggest public funder of research.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of removing the BTEC Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care on students who do not meet the entry requirements for A Levels or T Levels.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In October, the department published a consultation which detailed our plans to introduce V Levels, which will offer a vocational alternative to A levels and T Levels. We have proposed a range of subjects for delivery through V Levels, including Health and Care Services.
For students looking for a career in health, we would expect students to take the Health T Level. Young people with a range of prior attainment are accessing T Levels. The GCSE grade split for students receiving T Level results is very similar to those receiving results for Applied General Qualifications.
To ensure students can continue to access high quality qualifications in social care, we introduced a large Technical Occupation Qualification in Social Care (1080 GLH), which will be available for first teach from 1 August 2026. We are also exploring whether a T Level in Social Care could be viable in future.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of defunding the BTEC Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care on the future health and social care workforce pipeline.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In October, the department published a consultation which detailed our plans to introduce V Levels, which will offer a vocational alternative to A levels and T Levels. We have proposed a range of subjects for delivery through V Levels, including Health and Care Services.
For students looking for a career in health, we would expect students to take the Health T Level. Young people with a range of prior attainment are accessing T Levels. The GCSE grade split for students receiving T Level results is very similar to those receiving results for Applied General Qualifications.
To ensure students can continue to access high quality qualifications in social care, we introduced a large Technical Occupation Qualification in Social Care (1080 GLH), which will be available for first teach from 1 August 2026. We are also exploring whether a T Level in Social Care could be viable in future.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of (a) national progression rates from foundation to other low-level courses in colleges and (b) employment outcomes from those rates.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Progression rates for further education achievers aged 16+ at Below Level 2 and Essential Skills into sustained further learning (by level of learning destination) between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in i) England, ii) Dorset and iii) the South West are shown in the following tables:
The department does not publish data on employment outcomes for learners progressing to other lower-level learning from foundation courses, but it does publish sustained employment outcome rates for learners achieving at Below Level 2 and in Essential Skills between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in England, as shown in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa7ce8db-5a14-4898-4a4c-08de398c3998.
These statistics are available in the ‘Further education outcomes’ publication. This answer is based on the latest statistics that were released on 18 December 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-outcomes/2022-23. The next update to this series will be published in November 2026.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of progression rates from foundation to other low-level courses in colleges in the South West.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Progression rates for further education achievers aged 16+ at Below Level 2 and Essential Skills into sustained further learning (by level of learning destination) between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in i) England, ii) Dorset and iii) the South West are shown in the following tables:
The department does not publish data on employment outcomes for learners progressing to other lower-level learning from foundation courses, but it does publish sustained employment outcome rates for learners achieving at Below Level 2 and in Essential Skills between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in England, as shown in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa7ce8db-5a14-4898-4a4c-08de398c3998.
These statistics are available in the ‘Further education outcomes’ publication. This answer is based on the latest statistics that were released on 18 December 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-outcomes/2022-23. The next update to this series will be published in November 2026.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students progress from foundation to other low-level courses in colleges in Dorset.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Progression rates for further education achievers aged 16+ at Below Level 2 and Essential Skills into sustained further learning (by level of learning destination) between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in i) England, ii) Dorset and iii) the South West are shown in the following tables:
The department does not publish data on employment outcomes for learners progressing to other lower-level learning from foundation courses, but it does publish sustained employment outcome rates for learners achieving at Below Level 2 and in Essential Skills between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in England, as shown in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa7ce8db-5a14-4898-4a4c-08de398c3998.
These statistics are available in the ‘Further education outcomes’ publication. This answer is based on the latest statistics that were released on 18 December 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-outcomes/2022-23. The next update to this series will be published in November 2026.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis her Department has undertaken on the relationship between early years entitlement funding rates and levels of parental fees charged above entitlement hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of the indicative early years funding allocations on workforce recruitment and retention in early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on (a) the number of people aged 60 and over currently enrolled in further education, (b) the number of people aged 60 and over currently undertaking postgraduate study, and (c) the number of people aged 60 and over who have completed a PhD in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Adult further education and skills learner participation by age is published in the further education and skills statistics publication which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills/2024-25. However, participation figures for the 60+ age group specifically are not published
In 2024/25, there were 307,750 further education and skills learners aged 50 and above. The following table presents numbers of further education and skills learners by age for academic years between 2019/20 and 2024/25: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dc701901-2aeb-421f-4a31-08de398c3998.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. In the academic year 2023/24, across all modes of study, there were 7,415 postgraduate student enrolments aged 60+ across all UK HE providers. The following table presents numbers of HE students by age and permanent address for academic years between 2019/20 and 2023/24: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-58.
Data on the number of people aged 60 and over who have completed a PhD in each of the last ten years is not published, but has been produced using unpublished HESA data and, for qualifiers across all UK HE providers, is shown in the table below:
Year | PhD qualifiers aged 60+ |
2023/24 | 549 |
2022/23 | 482 |
2021/22 | 446 |
2020/21 | 473 |
2019/20 | 455 |
2018/19 | 448 |
2017/18 | 468 |
2016/17 | 429 |
2015/16 | 402 |
2014/15 | 425 |
Note - Age taken at start of final year of study