Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 101957 on Erasmus+ Programme, whether the National Agency will be an arms’ length body.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has commenced discussions with the British Council with a view to appointing them as the National Agency. The British Council is an arm’s-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for funded early years childcare; whether they regard the level of that funding to be sufficient to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of places for single parents; and how those funding levels take account of the additional reliance single parents may have on formal childcare if they are to remain in work.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023-24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
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 next year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. We have regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 84161 on Teachers Pensions, what her updated planned timetable is for issuing cash equivalent transfer value details from Teachers’ Pensions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As of the end of December 2025, 402 cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases were outstanding. There will always be a number of CETV cases in progress at any given time, as new CETV applications are made.
Capita, the scheme administrator, is continuing to work through the most complex cases for members who have retired. Due to the level of complexity, 329 of these cases can only be processed clerically and the estimated average calculation times are between 20 and 30 hours per processed case.
The scheme administrator is working as quickly as possible to complete all outstanding cases. This issue remains a top priority for the department and the scheme administrator.
Asked by: Uma Kumaran (Labour - Stratford and Bow)
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 differential university tuition fees based on the Teaching Excellence Framework on further education access for students from the most financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Maximum fee limits for all higher education (HE) providers will increase from £9,535 to £9,790 in the 2026/27 academic year, and from £9,790 to £10,050 in the 2027/28 academic year. We will then legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
In return for the increased investment that we are asking students to make, we expect the HE sector to deliver the very best outcomes both for those students and for the country. To achieve this, we will link future inflationary fee uplifts to judgements on HE providers’ quality and restrict fee income where high quality cannot be demonstrated.
The Office for Students (OfS) will consider a wide range of metrics when determining quality judgements. All HE providers registered with the OfS that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan approved by the OfS.
Asked by: Uma Kumaran (Labour - Stratford and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of linking differential fees to teaching standards on higher education institutions with higher than average rate of admission to students from the most financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Maximum fee limits for all higher education (HE) providers will increase from £9,535 to £9,790 in the 2026/27 academic year, and from £9,790 to £10,050 in the 2027/28 academic year. We will then legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
In return for the increased investment that we are asking students to make, we expect the HE sector to deliver the very best outcomes both for those students and for the country. To achieve this, we will link future inflationary fee uplifts to judgements on HE providers’ quality and restrict fee income where high quality cannot be demonstrated.
The Office for Students (OfS) will consider a wide range of metrics when determining quality judgements. All HE providers registered with the OfS that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan approved by the OfS.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address levels of school exclusion in West Berkshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes detailed exclusion data at a regional and local authority level and regularly monitors trends in school exclusion rates for pupil groups.
The department is delivering a comprehensive programme of behaviour support for schools, including Attendance and Behaviour Hubs which are targeting schools with the highest need and providing wider national support
The Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance states that schools, local authorities, and partners should work together to understand local trends. Local leaders should also use this to plan and implement targeted action suitable to local context. The guidance can be read in full here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.
Furthermore, the statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance includes curriculum content on drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping to ensure that pupils can understand the risks and implications of misuse. This guidance can be read in full here:
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is available to school staff who experience psychological harm as a result of witnessing or administering the use of a workplace automated external defibrillator on a pupil or colleague.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are best placed to understand what support may be most appropriate for their staff and should have standard operating procedures in place, including aftercare, should an incident occur where a member of staff witnesses or administers use of an automated external defibrillator on a pupil or a colleague. Should a rescuer need support after an incident, they may be able to request a debriefing from the local ambulance service. Alternatively, they can seek help directly from their GP.
The ‘Promoting and supporting mental health in schools and colleges’ page on GOV.UK, offers resources to build a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges. This includes information about the range of mental health support offers and training available to schools and colleges.
The charity, Education Support, also offers a free confidential 24 hour helpline dedicated to supporting staff working in education.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made towards the development of the Enrichment Framework; and if she will set out a timetable for its publication and implementation.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will publish the new Enrichment Framework in early 2026. The framework has been developed following extensive research and collaboration with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and a working group of experts from schools, youth, sports and arts organisations.
We are also putting in place a range of support to help schools further, including PE and school sport partnerships, the national network of Music Hubs, £24million for the TechYouth programme and £22.5 million from DCMS over three years to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools. A further £132.5 million of dormant assets funding is being targeted towards services, facilities and opportunities to meet the needs of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds. More specifically, the government is continuing to invest an additional £3.6 million per year to support and maintain cadet units in schools as part of the Cadet Expansion Programme.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing an enrichment premium for schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will publish the new Enrichment Framework in early 2026. The framework has been developed following extensive research and collaboration with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and a working group of experts from schools, youth, sports and arts organisations.
We are also putting in place a range of support to help schools further, including PE and school sport partnerships, the national network of Music Hubs, £24million for the TechYouth programme and £22.5 million from DCMS over three years to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools. A further £132.5 million of dormant assets funding is being targeted towards services, facilities and opportunities to meet the needs of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds. More specifically, the government is continuing to invest an additional £3.6 million per year to support and maintain cadet units in schools as part of the Cadet Expansion Programme.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to monitor and evaluate the impact of the SEND teacher training programme on inclusion, attendance and educational outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recently announced investment in a new package of training for staff in nurseries, schools and colleges, with the aim to ultimately improve support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
The new training programmes will also go through stages of quality assurance to ensure they are aligned with evidence of best practice.
A full monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed, and officials are currently scoping options for an independent evaluation.
The new package builds on training that is already available, such as special educational needs and disabilities and inclusion content woven through the suite of national professional qualifications, for which evaluation is already underway and interim reports are available on GOV.UK.