Asked by: Baroness Golding (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether schools in England include the results of external candidates in their GCSE and A-Level statistics.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department’s GCSE and A level statistics include the results of external candidates at the end of key stage 4 (GCSEs) or 16-18 study (A levels), which are recorded against the school that a pupil has been allocated to. For state schools, pupils are allocated to a school based on the school census, while for independent schools or colleges, pupils are allocated based on exam data or the Individualised Learner Record. All exam results achieved by a pupil are recorded against the allocated school or college, regardless of where they were entered for the exam, including private exam entries.
Prior to publication, schools and colleges are given the opportunity to request the removal of incorrectly included external candidates from their GCSE and A level performance measures data, via the Check Your Performance Measures Data service.
Asked by: Baroness Golding (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the availability of free and accessible educational materials suitable for KS3 and KS4, particularly for elective home education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.
Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.
As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.
Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.
To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.
The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.
Asked by: Baroness Golding (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funds are allocated to local education authorities to ensure that elective home education students can access free testing for level 1, 2, 3, and 4 qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.
Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.
As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.
Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.
To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.
The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.
Asked by: Baroness Golding (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how elective home education students can access exam centres as external candidates.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.
Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.
As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.
Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.
To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.
The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.
Asked by: Baroness Golding (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how non-levy apprenticeship contracts are awarded; and who within the Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for making such awards.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In July 2017, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) launched a procurement process, which established a network of contractors who will delivery apprenticeship training to employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy. This was in accordance with its general obligations under the Public Contracts Regulation 2015.
A dedicated team at the ESFA implemented and managed the procurement process. Contracts were then awarded by the ESFA’s Chief Executive, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, to the providers who were successful under the terms of the procurement.