Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 39574 on Katharine Birbalsingh, when the final note was shared.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise attainment levels for disadvantaged students in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
We are driving standards through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers, as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.
Alongside this, schools continue to receive the pupil premium grant. In the 2026/27 financial year we will be providing £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding across all state-funded schools in England, an increase of 2.2% per pupil from the 2025/26 financial year. In the 2025/26 financial year Leicester received £23,112,193 of pupil premium funding, and the East Midlands received £260,716,608.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the early years funding system supports a) providers operating on a year-round basis and b) parents who require year-round provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements this year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates. The most recent Coram–PACEY Childcare Survey 2026, finds that the expansion of 30 hours of funded childcare has significantly reduced out of pocket costs for eligible working parents in England, in some cases making part time childcare effectively free during term time.
By allowing funded hours to be stretched across the year, deducting closures from calculations, and enabling mixed‑provider models, the system is designed to work alongside all‑year childcare businesses, managing funding and fees transparently and within national limits, broadening parental choice.
The department has announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available from September 2025.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the expansion of funded childcare supports improved outcomes for disadvantaged children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Best Start in Life Strategy sets out this government’s commitment to increase take-up of the 15-hour early education and childcare offers for two, three and four-year-olds, ensuring low-income families, children with special educational needs and disabilities and children in care receive the early education they are entitled to. The department will engage directly with local authorities where take-up is lowest, supporting families through Best Start Family Hubs to take up their funded hours, addressing local variation in performance and tracking data through the Local Government Outcomes Framework.
Building on the largest ever uplift to Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) in 2025/26, we have increased EYPP rates by 15% to £1.15 per hour in 2026/27, equivalent to up to £655 per eligible child per year.
Low income working families and children with special educational needs and disabilities can benefit from the expansion of funded childcare. Parents could be eligible if they each earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, equivalent to £10,574.72 annually.
To make sure that the early years funding system is hardwired to benefit those children and parts of the country that have higher levels of additional need, we will review early years funding, including national funding formulae, and consult the sector on changes by summer 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 121472 from the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The responses to these Written Parliamentary Questions have been issued.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 120510 from the hon. Member for North East Hampshire.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The responses to these Written Parliamentary Questions have been issued.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that independent faith schools meet independent school standards.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
All private schools are required to comply with the Independent School Standards (ISS). Schools that fail to meet the ISS at inspection are subject to regulatory action as per the ‘Independent Schools: Regulatory and Enforcement Action’ policy statement.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help children with special educational needs and disabilities from mobile military families access continuous specialised support at school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the consultation on the government’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, I recently attended a roundtable hosted by the Armed Forces Community All-Party Parliamentary Group. I met representatives from armed forces families and the charities that support them to hear first-hand about the challenges they face.
The government is consulting on its proposed SEND reforms that would support children from mobile families. We are proposing that new National Inclusion Standards will set out support that should be available in every mainstream setting, and a nationally consistent set of Specialist Provision Packages will provide comprehensive, evidence-based support for children and young people with the most complex needs underpinning education health and care (EHC) plans which will help end the postcode lottery in support. Additionally, EHC plans and new Individual Support Plans will be digital, which will support service children by facilitating smoother transitions when they move between schools or local authorities.
Schools receive targeted funding through the Service Pupil Premium, with over £26 million allocated in 2026/27. The rate increased to £360 per eligible pupil in 2026. Schools can use this funding flexibly to provide pastoral, academic and transition support to mitigate the effects of mobility and parental deployment, supported by the department and Ministry of Defence’s joint guidance.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been on the development of the Alternative Student Finance model, including all programme costs, consultancy fees, legal drafting and stakeholder engagement.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the projected and actual costs are for the Student Loans Company to design, build, test, and implement systems required to administer the Alternative Student Finance model.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.