Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 10 November (HL Deb col 40), whether they plan to pilot media literacy within the curriculum, and if so, how its efficacy will be assessed.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England.
As part of the response to the Review the government has committed to ensuring our young people have the skills they need to identify and challenge misinformation, by strengthening media literacy in citizenship and English.
To ensure primary-aged children are introduced to key content on media literacy we have made a commitment to make citizenship compulsory in key stages 1 and 2.
We will also reform the computing curriculum and create a broader computing GCSE so that pupils have the vital digital skills needed for the future such as AI literacy and we will explore a new level 3 qualification in data science and AI.
The department will engage with sector experts and young people in working out how best to reflect this content in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum programmes of study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 10 November (HL Deb col 36), what evidence the decision not to follow the Curriculum and Assessment Review's recommendation that the structure of Progress 8 remains unchanged was based on.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A July 2025 Skills England report noted that "the creative industries are experiencing significant skills shortages", with 33% of all vacancies attributed to this, and the Curriculum and Assessment Review found declines in entries into some key stage 4 arts qualifications, including music and drama. The department believes that the proposed ‘Progress 8’ structure will support development of these key skills and help deliver the government’s commitment to support young people with the opportunity to study a creative or vocational subject through to the end of key stage 4.
The department will therefore consult on an improved Progress 8 and Attainment 8 that recognises the value of these subjects and balances a strong academic core with breadth and student choice.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 10 November (HL Deb cols 30–38), whether they plan to pilot changes to media literacy in the curriculum, and how its efficacy will be assessed.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer of 27 November to Question HL11890.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 July (HL8638) and 26 August (HL9576), on which date before the speech by the Secretary of State for Education on 3 February it was decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would not include primary schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As previously set out in responses to written parliamentary questions HL8638 and HL9576, the department is targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and special schools.
Regular public statements have been made on this key pledge, including for instance in my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s first sector email communication. The pledge is focused on sectors where there is a need for more teachers. Demographic changes throughout this parliament means pupil numbers will increase in secondary schools, and particularly in further education, while there has been significant decrease in the number of pupils in primary schools. There are 60,000 fewer pupils in primary schools compared to last year, and around 172,000 fewer compared to the 2018/19 peak.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 July (HL8638), on what date it was decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would not include primary schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and special schools.
Regular public statements have been made on this key pledge. Examples include my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s letter to the education workforce on 8 July 2024, which confirmed both schools and colleges as being within scope of the pledge, and further information on the specific settings in scope were outlined in her speech on schools standards in February 2025 and in a Written Parliamentary Statement in May 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 July (HL8638), on what date it was decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would include colleges.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and special schools.
Regular public statements have been made on this key pledge. Examples include my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s letter to the education workforce on 8 July 2024, which confirmed both schools and colleges as being within scope of the pledge, and further information on the specific settings in scope were outlined in her speech on schools standards in February 2025 and in a Written Parliamentary Statement in May 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would include colleges.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The pledge to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers over the course of this Parliament is focused on sectors where there is a need for more teachers, across secondary and special schools and our colleges.
Demographic changes throughout this Parliament mean pupil numbers will increase in secondary schools, and particularly in further education, while there has been a significant decrease in the number of pupils in primary schools. There are 60,000 fewer pupils in primary schools compared to last year, and around 172,000 fewer compared to the 2018/19 peak. The government is therefore targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and also special schools to support pupils with special educational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would not include primary schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The pledge to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers over the course of this Parliament is focused on sectors where there is a need for more teachers, across secondary and special schools and our colleges.
Demographic changes throughout this Parliament mean pupil numbers will increase in secondary schools, and particularly in further education, while there has been a significant decrease in the number of pupils in primary schools. There are 60,000 fewer pupils in primary schools compared to last year, and around 172,000 fewer compared to the 2018/19 peak. The government is therefore targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and also special schools to support pupils with special educational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government where the £615 million allocated to schools to fund teachers' pay awards for 2025–26 will come from within the existing budget of the Department for Education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has made some tough decisions to ensure every pound of taxpayers’ money is driving high and rising standards for our children. By ending tax breaks for private schools, and undertaking a robust line-by-line budget review to identify poor value for money spend, we are able to deliver this investment in recruiting and retaining more expert teachers in our classrooms. We have driven efficiency through increasing digital capability both inside and outside of the department, reducing central headcount and removing duplication within programmes.
As we have made clear throughout the pay process, we are also asking schools and colleges to do their part in ensuring that we are driving productivity across all areas of the public sector, ensuring resources are deployed intelligently to maximise support for teaching and learning, freeing up educators to focus on what matters most, which is providing every child with the high quality education they deserve.
Schools will be expected to find approximately the first 1% of pay awards through improved productivity and smarter spending to make every pound count. There will be those who say this cannot be done, but schools have a responsibility, like the rest of the public sector, to ensure that their funding is spent as efficiently as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money has been saved by reviewing the budget of the Department for Education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has made some tough decisions to ensure every pound of taxpayers’ money is driving high and rising standards for our children. By ending tax breaks for private schools, and undertaking a robust line-by-line budget review to identify poor value for money spend, we are able to deliver this investment in recruiting and retaining more expert teachers in our classrooms. We have driven efficiency through increasing digital capability both inside and outside of the department, reducing central headcount and removing duplication within programmes.
As we have made clear throughout the pay process, we are also asking schools and colleges to do their part in ensuring that we are driving productivity across all areas of the public sector, ensuring resources are deployed intelligently to maximise support for teaching and learning, freeing up educators to focus on what matters most, which is providing every child with the high quality education they deserve.
Schools will be expected to find approximately the first 1% of pay awards through improved productivity and smarter spending to make every pound count. There will be those who say this cannot be done, but schools have a responsibility, like the rest of the public sector, to ensure that their funding is spent as efficiently as possible.