Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what requirements are placed on universities to collect data on (1) sex, (2) gender, (3) gender identity or (4) gender reassignment, of students when (a) applying for university, (b) joining the university and (c) graduating from university, and whether they have reports showing what data are collected.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector and specifies which data HE providers should collect from students. All HE providers with a statutory requirement to report data to HESA are asked to return data on students’ sex. HE providers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are asked to return data on students’ gender identity (whether their gender identity aligns with their sex registered at birth), and providers in Scotland may optionally return data on students’ transgender status.
Certain HE providers in England, which are registered with the Office for Students, are required to provide data on the number of applications, offers, acceptances and completion rates by gender, under an ongoing condition of registration in respect of transparency information.
HE providers are required under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, but also to actively advance equality. This may include collecting relevant data to monitor and improve their policies and delivery of services.
All HE providers must adhere to data protection legislation when processing students’ personal data, ensuring that it is collected and processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently, and are required to publish privacy notices setting out what types of personal data they collect and how they will process it.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education Music Education: State of the Nation, published on 4 February, that found that there has been a fall in the proportion of GCSE entries in Music of 16.66 per cent since 2014–15; and what plans they have to address that fall.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All state-funded schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Ofsted is currently undertaking a consultation on its proposed new education inspection framework. The consultation runs until 5 April. Under its proposals, inspectors will assess the extent to which schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum for their pupils.
We are aware of the All-Party Parliamentary Group's report. The number of secondary aged children in state-funded schools has decreased over time so it is not surprising that the overall number of children taking GCSE music has reduced. Since 2010, the proportion of pupils taking GCSE music has fluctuated but remained broadly stable, ranging between 6% and 7%.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that a broad and balanced curriculum which includes music at Key Stage 3 is delivered across all schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All state-funded schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Ofsted is currently undertaking a consultation on its proposed new education inspection framework. The consultation runs until 5 April. Under its proposals, inspectors will assess the extent to which schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum for their pupils.
We are aware of the All-Party Parliamentary Group's report. The number of secondary aged children in state-funded schools has decreased over time so it is not surprising that the overall number of children taking GCSE music has reduced. Since 2010, the proportion of pupils taking GCSE music has fluctuated but remained broadly stable, ranging between 6% and 7%.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they record annually the number of children in full-time education whose mothers or fathers have passed away; and if so, how many such children there were in each of the last six years.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The requested information is not held centrally.
Information on schools and pupils is published at the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018.