Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the Schools White Paper on (a) schools and (b) pupils in South Suffolk constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation Document set out our plans to build an education system that ensures children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.
We are consulting on the reforms in the publication. You can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.
Mainstream school funding allocations through the national funding formula for 2026/27 were published in November 2025, and incorporated in the 2026/27 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to local authorities, published to the normal timescale in December 2025. This school funding is increasing by 2.6% per pupil in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26. High needs funding also allocated within local authorities’ DSG, which includes funding for special schools, was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025/26. Funding will continue at this increased level in 2026/27.
On top of these allocations announced in 2025, we are investing £4 billion over three years to build an inclusive mainstream system. This includes £1.6 billion for a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund from 2026/27 for mainstream schools and other educational settings, with over £500 million per year over the next three years.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils left independent schools in 2024 compared with 2025, and how this compares with the estimated figure of 3,000 pupils.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There were 129 private school closures between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. In 2024, there were 58 closures and in 2025 there were 71 closures.
The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many independent schools closed in 2024 compared with 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There were 129 private school closures between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. In 2024, there were 58 closures and in 2025 there were 71 closures.
The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools have access to mental health support for pupils.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Warrington South to the answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 115995.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of secondary school pupils in England completing CPR training as required under the Health Education curriculum; and what steps the Department for Education is taking to support schools in ensuring consistent delivery of CPR training and to promote participation in national initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the Relationships, Sex and Health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.
The RSHE guidance requires primary schools to teach basic first aid, such as dealing with common injuries. In secondary schools, pupils learn additional skills, including cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how and when to use a defibrillator.
Schools have flexibility in how they deliver this content, including which resources they choose to use and whether to participate in initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.
The department does not collect data on how many pupils have completed CPR training; schools are responsible for determining how best to meet curriculum requirements and ensure appropriate first aid education.
The government has commissioned Oak Academy to make lesson materials freely available.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what preparations her Department has made for a School Sports Strategy; and what recent steps she as taken towards the new approach announced in June 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 19 June 2025 that the government will establish a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network to ensure all children and young people have access to high-quality PE and extracurricular sport, helping young people develop an interest in sport that continues beyond the school environment.
To deliver this, the department is preparing to procure a national partner to lead the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. This partner will work with government, Sport England and national governing bodies to make links across provision for children and young people to strengthen support to schools and increase access to opportunities. We expect to have the national partner in place by autumn 2026.
In parallel, we are modernising the PE curriculum. The Association for Physical Education is leading a group of expert drafters to develop a new curriculum that develops children’s physical capability and supports lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108602 on School Milk, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools and Local Authorities are aware of the expectation that they make reasonable adjustments for children who do not drink dairy milk.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. They allow schools the freedom to provide plant-based drinks as needed, including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium, and combination and flavoured variations of these drinks.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies.
We are currently consulting on revised statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-on-support-for-pupils-with-medical-conditions-at-school’. This seeks views on proposals to strengthen how schools meet their duties, including improvements to allergy safety and broader medical condition management. Our aim is to ensure that every child can access education safely and confidently, regardless of their health needs or allergy.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.
Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes recruitment principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow.
For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers.
The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation.
Employers who choose to use positive action can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome certain barriers under the measures. However, employers need to ensure they do this in a way which does not unfairly disadvantage other groups as this could amount to ‘positive discrimination’, which is unlawful.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in improving pupil attendance in areas with high absence rates.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. In the Schools White Paper, the department set a national commitment to improve the attendance rate to over 94% by 2028/29, equivalent to 100,000 pupils attending school full time and represent the fastest rate of improvement in over a decade.
Our statutory ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance requires schools to appoint an attendance champion, have a published attendance policy, and work with local authorities.
The department provides real-time data tools and attendance toolkits, which help schools, trusts and local authorities identify the drivers of absence and adopt effective practice to improve attendance to pre‑pandemic attendance levels.
In January, we launched our new regional improvement for standards and excellence attendance and behaviour hubs, which can support over 3000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools, helping schools build strong relationships with parents and helping teachers form strong relationships of trust with students.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of the Religious Education Initial Teacher Training bursary on the quality of RE provision in secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. As such, we review bursaries annually to take account of several factors, including recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for religious education increased by 68%, one of the largest increases across all subjects.
New teachers benefit from three years of professional development through the initial teacher training and early career framework, which sets out the core knowledge, skills, and behaviours for great teaching, alongside expert mentoring and support. All trainee teachers must meet the Teachers’ Standards for qualified teacher status in full before they qualify, which requires that they ‘Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge’.