Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support for the teaching and learning of German in British universities of the German Academic Exchange Service programmes for (1) the German lektor scheme and (2) the German Language Assistant scheme.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
English universities are independent, autonomous institutions and are therefore free to choose which courses they run. Quality is assessed by the Office for Students, the regulator of higher education providers in England. Whilst the government firmly supports the teaching of German and other modern foreign languages in English universities, the government plays no role in the delivery of these specific schemes.
In terms of immigration arrangements, the government has been clear that all EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens must be resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 to be eligible for settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme. All EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals arriving in the UK from 1 January 2021 will be required to apply for a visa under the new points-based immigration system. People wanting to come into the UK to work from 1 January 2021 will be awarded points for a job offer at the appropriate skill level if they speak English, and if they meet the appropriate salary threshold.
The points-based immigration system is a global system which treats EU and non-EU citizens equally, prioritising individuals’ skills and talent over where a person happens to come from. The UK’s Points Based Immigration System has been designed with huge consideration given to businesses and employers, including the UK higher education sector, which has been consulted by the government throughout.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make an exemption for (1) German lektors and (2) German language assistants participating in the German Academic Exchange Service programmes, from the standard skilled worker visa regulations in respect of the salary threshold.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
English universities are independent, autonomous institutions and are therefore free to choose which courses they run. Quality is assessed by the Office for Students, the regulator of higher education providers in England. Whilst the government firmly supports the teaching of German and other modern foreign languages in English universities, the government plays no role in the delivery of these specific schemes.
In terms of immigration arrangements, the government has been clear that all EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens must be resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 to be eligible for settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme. All EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals arriving in the UK from 1 January 2021 will be required to apply for a visa under the new points-based immigration system. People wanting to come into the UK to work from 1 January 2021 will be awarded points for a job offer at the appropriate skill level if they speak English, and if they meet the appropriate salary threshold.
The points-based immigration system is a global system which treats EU and non-EU citizens equally, prioritising individuals’ skills and talent over where a person happens to come from. The UK’s Points Based Immigration System has been designed with huge consideration given to businesses and employers, including the UK higher education sector, which has been consulted by the government throughout.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in addition to university student placements, any domestic alternative to Erasmus+ would cover (1) school exchanges for pupils and teachers, (2) technical education and workplace training, (3) work shadowing and youth work, (4) sports, (5) older people, (6) disadvantaged areas, (7) arts projects, and (8) people with disabilities, in line with the current Erasmus+ programme.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Participation in Erasmus+ is subject to our ongoing negotiations with the EU.
In parallel with the negotiations, we are continuing to develop a UK-wide domestic alternative to Erasmus+ as a contingency measure. The Spending Review 2020 committed funding to prepare for a UK-wide domestic alternative, in the event that the UK no longer participates in Erasmus+, to fund outward global education mobility schemes. The government will set out further details on this potential scheme in due course.
As part of our ongoing preparations towards this potential scheme, we have looked at comparable schemes across the globe, including the Swiss European Mobility Scheme. The Department for Education is in regular contact with the Swiss government to discuss education-related matters, maintaining an open dialogue and holding discussions to share insights and best practice, including on the Swiss exchange scheme.
Youth and sport are the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and it has been considering the provision of a domestic alternative scheme for the youth elements of Erasmus+ as part of the recent Spending Review. Funding was not, however, allocated to a domestic alternative to the youth element of Erasmus+ at the Spending Review.
Erasmus+ Sport is a very small part of the programme, representing only 1.8% of the overall budget. We are already investing significant sums of money in sport programmes which align with Erasmus+ Sport themes and objectives, and do not consider that there is a need to create a specific domestic alternative programme to replace Erasmus+ Sport activities. For example, through Sport England, we are investing more than £1.2 billion from the 2016 financial year to the 2021 financial year on grassroots sport and physical activity programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the domestic scheme to replace Erasmus+ set up by Switzerland; and if no such assessment has been made, what plans they have to assess the effectiveness of the Swiss replacement scheme before committing to a UK domestic alternative.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Participation in Erasmus+ is subject to our ongoing negotiations with the EU.
In parallel with the negotiations, we are continuing to develop a UK-wide domestic alternative to Erasmus+ as a contingency measure. The Spending Review 2020 committed funding to prepare for a UK-wide domestic alternative, in the event that the UK no longer participates in Erasmus+, to fund outward global education mobility schemes. The government will set out further details on this potential scheme in due course.
As part of our ongoing preparations towards this potential scheme, we have looked at comparable schemes across the globe, including the Swiss European Mobility Scheme. The Department for Education is in regular contact with the Swiss government to discuss education-related matters, maintaining an open dialogue and holding discussions to share insights and best practice, including on the Swiss exchange scheme.
Youth and sport are the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and it has been considering the provision of a domestic alternative scheme for the youth elements of Erasmus+ as part of the recent Spending Review. Funding was not, however, allocated to a domestic alternative to the youth element of Erasmus+ at the Spending Review.
Erasmus+ Sport is a very small part of the programme, representing only 1.8% of the overall budget. We are already investing significant sums of money in sport programmes which align with Erasmus+ Sport themes and objectives, and do not consider that there is a need to create a specific domestic alternative programme to replace Erasmus+ Sport activities. For example, through Sport England, we are investing more than £1.2 billion from the 2016 financial year to the 2021 financial year on grassroots sport and physical activity programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the Spending Review 2020, published on 25 November, that the Department for Education settlement "provides funding to prepare for a UK-wide domestic alternative to Erasmus+, in the event that the UK no longer participates in Erasmus+, to fund outward global education mobilities", whether such funding would be sufficient to provide for reciprocal arrangements as in the current Erasmus+ programme; and what steps are being taken to secure the recognition of other countries for a possible UK domestic alternative scheme.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Participation in Erasmus+ is subject to our ongoing negotiations with the EU.
In parallel with the negotiations, we are continuing to develop a UK-wide domestic alternative to Erasmus+ as a contingency measure. The Spending Review 2020 committed funding to prepare for a UK-wide domestic alternative, in the event that the UK no longer participates in Erasmus+, to fund outward global education mobility schemes. The government will set out further details on this potential scheme in due course.
As part of our ongoing preparations towards this potential scheme, we have looked at comparable schemes across the globe, including the Swiss European Mobility Scheme. The Department for Education is in regular contact with the Swiss government to discuss education-related matters, maintaining an open dialogue and holding discussions to share insights and best practice, including on the Swiss exchange scheme.
Youth and sport are the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and it has been considering the provision of a domestic alternative scheme for the youth elements of Erasmus+ as part of the recent Spending Review. Funding was not, however, allocated to a domestic alternative to the youth element of Erasmus+ at the Spending Review.
Erasmus+ Sport is a very small part of the programme, representing only 1.8% of the overall budget. We are already investing significant sums of money in sport programmes which align with Erasmus+ Sport themes and objectives, and do not consider that there is a need to create a specific domestic alternative programme to replace Erasmus+ Sport activities. For example, through Sport England, we are investing more than £1.2 billion from the 2016 financial year to the 2021 financial year on grassroots sport and physical activity programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage and support entrants to GCSE examinations in community languages for the 2020/2021 academic year.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
All pupils should have the opportunity to study foreign languages as part of a core academic curriculum and this should include community languages. The department recognises the importance of high quality qualifications in languages such as Polish, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali and Turkish.
At key stage 4, languages, including community languages, are included in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). Since the introduction of the EBacc performance measure in 2010, the proportion of GCSE entries from pupils in state funded schools in a modern foreign language (MFL) has increased from 40 per cent in 2010 to 47 per cent in 2019.
As with any other GCSE subject, the department expects schools to provide appropriate support to pupils to prepare them for examinations. In relation to the 2020/21 academic year, the department’s guidance to schools reopening from September states that the curriculum should remain broad from year 7 to year 9 so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including sciences, languages, humanities, the arts, physical education/sport, religious education and relationships, sex and health education. The guidance also sets out an expectation that the majority of year 10 and year 11 pupils continue to study their examination subjects, supporting them towards their preferred route to further study. The full opening of schools guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
The department has invested in a range of programmes to increase uptake of languages at GCSE. The £2.41 million MFL Pedagogy Pilot commenced in December 2018 and is designed to improve uptake and attainment in languages at key stages 3 and 4.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many candidates for a language GCSE who entered for examination in summer 2020 were subsequently withdrawn by 15 May; and of those, how many were entered for less-taught, heritage or community languages.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Department does not hold information about candidates who entered for a language GCSE examination in Summer 2020 and were subsequently withdrawn. Exam entries are a matter for the individual, independent exam boards.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether supplementary schools which are (1) registered as community language examination centres, and (2) not registered as community language examination centres, have been informed that they can provide their language students with teacher assessments and predicted grades on the same basis as mainstream schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write directly to the noble Baroness. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Lords Library.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether students studying for GCSEs in a foreign language at a supplementary school will be eligible to sit the examination in the Autumn if they have been unable to do so this summer due to COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We are working with the independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, and the exam boards to ensure that students have the opportunity to sit exams in the autumn. This includes those who have studied at supplementary schools. Ofqual will be consulting on proposed arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that all language students at supplementary schools who have been entered for a GCSE examination in that language this summer but are unable to sit it because of COVID-19 are refunded automatically with their full entrance fee.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department recognises that schools and colleges want clarity on exam fees following the announcement that GCSE exams will not take place this summer. The department and the exam boards are working together to ensure that they are provided with further information as soon as possible.